Tendonitis Follow-up
February 2nd, 2008 | 
Author: Swahili school ran from 8am-1pm M-F. All this was of course challenging and made even harder by loud squawking guineafowl. They are so loud and persistent, they make excited roosters at the crack of dawn seem like introverts. Needless to say, that isn’t a conducive atmosphere for learning a new language.
So, I took it upon myself to… um… rid us of the noise. I wasn’t out to kill them though there were times I regret I didn’t take out at least a couple of them. There were plenty of small and medium sized stones all around the campsite most of which made great projectiles for startling the guineafowl enough to make them shut up and/or run away. My preference being the latter. I wouldn’t throw directly at them, usually to the side of the group opposite of the direction I wanted them to go. It took many-a-rock to accomplish this and to sustain it day after day. I was mostly successful but I ended up conditioning my ownself into having to throw something every time I heard them while we were trying to learn.
After a few months, that conditioning can wreak havoc on shoulder tendons, especially those which are older than 30 years and way out of shape.
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I began reading your blog and Dana’s as a way of trying to have some idea of what Julia and Viggo would be up against when they went to Swahili camp. (You are both engaging writers and I read them for their own sake now). Of all the difficulties I might have imagined, tendonitis from throwing rocks at the Guinea Fowl was definitely not one of them. Well, if you are feeling a bit foolish, read my post on 50 Things That Should Have Killed Me Already. You will feel like a sage of the ages compared to some of the stuff I did.
It’s funny how things like that work out. When we lived in Florida, our neighbors “adopted” a pair of Sandhill cranes. They would throw out cracked corn for them every morning and evening. At first the birds were grateful, but after the time change, the feedings started to come an hour later than the cranes were used to. So, at 6am, they would stand between the houses and warble at the top of their lungs. It would reverberate off of the neighbors garage door which acted like a speaker. It would then echo across the lake and back. There were many mornings that I wanted to throw something at them, but all I had handy was a pillow.
Kent – on my way over now to check out your 50.
Rick – There were many sandhill cranes around Wycliffe-Orlando while we were there for training. I know their call and I feel your pain!