Hot! and oops!

Hello,

Ok, so, when I arrived, I was blasted by the heat, which reminded me
of my running gear, which made me realize what an idiot I can be. I
was planning on running a marathon, right? did I remember to bring my
running tights or shorts? ooops!

Remember me talking about the monsoon season? I brought enough warm
clothes to survive an arctic storm. except, I forgot to bring
waterproof shoes. reports from the mountain say there is as much as
four feet of snow from a recent storm. Doh! though my guide says
those reports are from panzy tourists. He was up recently and he
thinks you can avoid any snow... but he's never seen an experienced
American backpacker who doesn't wear big boots anyway.

So, back to this morning. When I woke, it was quite nice out. By
8:30am, it was becoming hot. From about 9:30 to 6pm, it was deep into
the 90s.

So my plan it to run my first marathon in this heat, eh? I better
prepare myself not to be dissappointed with any time... this won't be
easy!

Today was pretty lax, I wandered around town and talked with people.
It's hard to blend in, as a muzungu (white man). I almost felt like I
did in China. I'm bigger than most folks here. Taller than many but
certainly heavier than anyone my height. And therefore a shining white
billboard that screams "sell me stuff!" hahaha.

Seems like curiosity about money is big here. People want to know
what caused the current financial situation (ie why there are fewer
tourists), how much money people make in the US, how expensive houses
are, etc. Considering that crappy houses start at $4k while people
make $150 per month... its a very different world here.

Anyway, good morning to y'all and i'm going to enjoy the current cool
(70s) breeze, drinking some local beers now since once I start diamox,
it's all over, all the beer will taste terrible!

Joel

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Joel