I don't know why I like Sioux Falls so much. It helps that it's summer and therefore warm. I like midwesterners. They're tough and friendly. They don't complain about stupid things. They don't expect the world of you.
We got here last night. I read about half of "Brave New World" and was asleep by 11:30. I ran 3 miles yesterday and I can tell that it's helping me sleep better. I feel so much better when I exercise and sleep.
Today I got up and walked a mile to a coffee shop called Black Sheep Roasting Company. I read about it on yelp.com. I paid $1 (no tax) for my first cup, which was a Tanzania Pearberry, and 50 cents for the refill - some kind of sumatra. I nearly finished my book, but by the time I got close I was too jittery from coffee and couldn't concentrate.
On the way over I passed a strip of stores. Each one's name was in a different language or represented a different region of the world - Tienda del bien Samaratino (my loose remembrance), Sengalese something, one in characters I didn't recognize. While I was in the coffee shop I was amazed by the numbers of African men coming and going. Some had intentional scars on their faces. They spoke in different languages and greeted each other with handshakes and cheek kisses. It always amazes to come to a place as obscure and cold as South Dakota and find a huge African population. I've seen the same thing in Portland, ME. It makes me wonder how they got here - and why here?
I walked the mile back to the hotel then tried to go for a run. It was pretty lame. It's surprisingly hot and I was surprisingly unmotivated. As much as I don't like treadmills, I think it's good for me to see the distance ticking by. Then I can shame myself into not stopping when I see that I've only been running for .75 miles.
The rest of my day has been blissfully restful. I finished the book and bought two more from a used book store. I just finished my supper of leftover spaghetti. I've developed this habit lately of adding random ingredients to basic dishes. That's how I have onions, spinach, and tomato chunks in my spaghetti. I also bought a Putamayo Kids African Dreamland cd. I'm looking forward to being lulled to sleep by it tonight.
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I've had the same thought... When Joy and I were driving through South Georgia once on our way to the gulf, we stopped at a gas station out in the middle of nowhere East Jesus South Georgia surrounded by cotton fields and the Indian woman running the store was in full sari/head dot garb and I was thinking 'how on earth did this woman and her husband end up in S. Georgia cotton country and what do they do all the time when they aren't at their gas station?' It's weird where people end up. You should write a story about it.
I forgot to mention that two of the ladies that work at the hotel were covered. Maybe S. Dakota is the new mecca.
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