After so many months of scorching hot weather and mornings that are boooooiling hot from the moment the sun peeps over the horizon, finally things have cooled down by just a few degrees, making it just about cool enough for me to attempt to finally go running!

I was a bit apprehensive about running when I first moved in here, but seeing as I now already know half the community and am completely used to the huge amounts of celebrity attention that is thrown my way whenever I step foot out of the door, I thought what the hell, they think I'm crazy already so it can't get much worse really when they see me running about the place like a lunatic can it?!!

Well, it turns out it can... I have now truly garnered even more attention than I had before, and am met with jaws dropping, eyes popping and, shrieks of 'Nasaaaaaaaara Eeeexercise!!' as I pick my way along the rocky, rubbly, sandy paths down to the main sand road where my trainers can at least get some grip and I can try to stay upright!

It all begins at 6am with the crowd of children, who just happen to appear out of nowhere as I step outside to do my stretches (I swear they have a 'white lady is awake and doing something funny' radar!). All full of giggles, some brows furrowed with curiosity, others raised in sheer 'oh my god what is she DOOing?!', the children gather around, and soon enough I have a whole team warm up going on. We've got limbs stretching here and there, children contorting themselves into funny positions that there's no chance I can do, and lots of funny noises and occasional bouts of rolling on the floor in fits of hysterical laughter. I have to work hard just to keep the children from waking up my housemates with their shrieks and squeels! So this little cheeky group have become my regular warm up crew, giving me a good start and chasing me until they can't run any more for laughing and so they go back to helping their mothers sweeping the yard or preparing food or getting ready for church.

Along the way it's full of surprises. First I have the different 'stop and stares'; children with eyes wide open, unsure whether I am a good thing or a bad thing, dogs with their ears peeled back wondering, 'is she a burglar?' 'am I supposed to bark at her?' and the surprised farmers, 'is that really a white women running through my field at daft o' clock in the morning?!'. Then I have the range of 'meet and greet's; the standard 'HelloOO!'s, 'Good Mornings!' and the 'TUMA TUMA!'s and then the new ones, 'Give me water!', 'give me trainers!' and 'where are you going?!''s.

By the time I've navigated my way up towards the Senior High School and am working hard to keep running whilst still saving enough breath to greet everyone back (definitely no need or room for an ipod here!), I realise this place is actually quite hilly, and I'm already sweating buckets! Then come along my range of personal trainers and coaches, who come up alongside me on their bicycles, gee-ing me on and giving me what sounds like support and encouragement although I've really no idea what they are saying! Their smiles and sheer excitement at me running does give me a boost though and somehow helps me to get up those hills! One man even cycled with me the whole way, just a few paces ahead of me, slowing down so I could keep up, and every now and again throwing back a few commands which in my mind translated to 'come on girl!' 'get a move on!' and 'you can do better than this!!', but in reality probably said 'are you crazy?!', 'why are you following me?' or 'why run when you can ride a bike?!!'.

Along the way I pick up a few straggles of children, who come bundling out of the tall green grass that swathes all over the farmlands here. Their giggles of glee accompany me for a while as they run up alongside me, craning their necks to look up at me against the morning sun, touching my arms and legs and even trying to grab my water and or my hair! They run, they cycle and they skip along, and somehow it keeps me going! I definitely need to start carrying jelly babies with me, not for energy but simply to throw at the children to keep them at bay at the side of the roads so I don't trip over them all!

The last couple of times on my running spree, I have noticed a tall very rural looking farmer, who comes out to the front of his house, but stands in the long tall grass that towers above even him and stares at me suspiciously. I wave and greet him in kusaal every time, and each time I think he considers what to say, but still he keeps his mouth shut in a crooked line and just stares at me with a strange 'hmmm I don't know what to make of you' look on his face. I think it might take him some time to get used to me!

I have definitely confused quite a few people, so many motorbikes and moto-kings stop and slow down and look at me like 'are you looking for a lift somewhere'! It might take some people a while to realise that I'm doing this for fun!

The goats come out and bleet at me, I have to dodge the cows crossing as the little boys herd them across the road to the dry fields on the other side, and a whole load of dragonflies and butterflies flutter alongside me as I'm panting along.

As the heat starts to wake up and roll out over the villages, I can feel it pounding down on me, and I start to wonder if this was a good idea! It doesn't take two minutes for the sun to cimb high into the sky and banish the morning mist away. Eventually all the shadows are gone and it's just me and the orange road and nowhere to hide! Even my water, carefully frozen the night before, has melted into water hot enough to make tea. Oops!

Eventually I decide I should soon turn back...so I mark the next borehole as my turning point. Its on approach that I discover that the shapes hanging about there are a bunch of young girls, some huddled together holding hands, others pumping water from the borehole, collecting it in big shiny bowls and buckets, or sweeping the church grounds, and all with heads cocked towards me and eyes placed firmly on my bright pink face! As I approach them they run to the road to greet me, and so I take a moment to catch my breath. After I've greeted them all, tried to figure out some of their names and tell them mine, I decide it's no time for hanging around in this heat and go to head off back. At which point they all join me and I've now got my own entourage of cheerleading girls by my side. Most of them are running barefoot, some with big buckets on their heads, and they are all still far faster than me!

On my way back, as I'm enjoying some peace and quiet, taking in the beautiful views, the luscious green grass and the hills of Burkina Faso and Togo in the distance, I see an old lady walking by the side of the road, glancing at me every now and again, and swinging her arms by her side in a rhythmic motion. As I approach I realise she is matching her step to mine, and once she has done so she starts to sing a small chant, 'hey hey hey hey' to each step we take, and then 'whho whho whho whho', followed by 'yip yip yip yip' and 'bah bah bah bah'...and the next thing you know we're dancing along the road in unison and I'm randomly joining in!

The best thing (aside from the wonderful dancing chanting lady) is when I arrive back, and I come flying down the little muddy path in my attempt at a sprint finish breathless, dripping in sweat and exhausted, and I see the old lady that lives next door carefully uncurling herself from the bent over position she adopts most of the day for sweeping the yard, straightens herself out, and jogs towards me to give me a big cheer and a hug! It's so unexpected, but really lovely.

So it's an amazing experience, and rivals any running I've ever done before! I don't even have time to think about how tired I am or how hot it is with all of this going on around me, it's fantastic.

With love from Ghana,

Em

Xx