Nipe Tano!

I went for a run last week after work with two other foreigners that led to two discoveries:

1. Not exercising for about a month + Prisca's cooking + an elevation increase of more than 4,300 feet = being really really out of shape!

2. The little kids who live outside of town have gone from being terrified of seeing random wazungu go running past their homes to being thrilled about it. As soon as they catch sight of us (usually fairly easy to do even from a distance ... something about our white skin and how we're not slowly walking tends to mean we stick out ...), they come running from the surrounding fields and homesteads in little gangs, all with their arms outstretched and hands curled into little fists, saying "nipe tano! nipe tano!" (give me five!). It is just about the cutest thing I've ever seen - some of these kids are so young they've practically learned how to walk and get fist bumps at the same time. Even in town, kids (and adults for that matter) find it really exciting/hilarious when they see me and/or say hi (or, just as often, say "give me money!"), which I've always found amusing or endearing. But there's something about the laughter and smiles of these "nipe tano" kids that's special - it's like they radiate absolutely pure joy ... and all you had to do was give them a fist bump!

(I didn't have my camera with me when we went running - this picture's from a walk we took this past weekend along the same route as the run.)