14.5

Today is a public holiday in Malawi and I've taken advantage of the office being closed by sleeping in, visiting the market, reading, and tackling my long run for the week - 14.5 miles. There's no great way to map out distances here (other than that I was told that the airport is 20km away, so I could run out and back for 40....right...) so I've been going by time (10 minute miles, though I usually run faster). I did it, and the run was MUCH better than yesterday's! I stopped half way through to get some water and juice to refuel a bit, and though I definitely got some funny looks, the only bad thing about it was I sweated off my sunscreen early in the run and am a bit red :(

It's been raining off and on throughout the day, which is a nice break in the heat. There's something soothing about reading a book while listening to the rain! Overall, being here has been relaxing, even though I've been at work. It seems like there is a better work/life balance here, especially since people are focused on one project at a time rather than 3-5. They are all dedicated to their work (and I heard a few say they'd be working on some things during the holiday today) but overall there is less stress in the air.