The sky was starting to lighten when the call to prayer from a nearby mosque woke me the next morning. My job had taken me to a lot of different places, so I was used to music or prayers rousing villages. This muezzin had a particularly melodic voice, and I lay in bed, drifting in the cadence of his chanting as I thought of the day ahead.

We’d be going deeper into the rural parts of the region today, and I was looking forward to that. Being out in the field and talking to women, men, and children was always enriching and humbling for me.

It’s hard to explain to someone who hasn’t seen it just how little people have in some parts of the world. No electricity, no running water, homes made of hay and clay, at times not much to eat. A few changes of clothes for each person in a family, and if they were lucky, more than one pair of shoes. Still, they proudly opened their scrupulously cared-for homes, and generously offered what they had to eat or drink.

I was excited to do the job I’d been given over the next few weeks. And maybe, if I was honest, I was also looking forward to spending the day stuck in a car with Elias. I wasn’t ready to give my reckless crush free rein yet, but I was totally giving myself a pass on “getting to know him because he seemed interesting.”

I took the end of the call to prayer as my cue get out of bed, and within minutes I was walking out of my room. I warmed up a bit by the pool and left the hotel compound at a leisurely jog. The sun was almost fully up over the misty fields as I ran past. It was such a sight that I had to stop and look. The horizon went on forever here, which made for a stunning sunrise. I watched it in a reverent silence until I felt chilled and had to move.

I set off on the path Elias recommended with Cardi B for a soundtrack, the movement and bite of the morning air kick-starting my jet lagged brain. About two-thirds through the loop I began to sense some runners behind me. When I looked over my shoulder, I saw five or six boys of various ages grinning at me as they tried to catch up. I took my eye off the path too long and lost my footing for a second, then decided to give them a real run for their money. I ripped out my earbuds and took off back to the hotel as fast as I could go. They all shrieked, seemingly delighted at the challenge, and ran after me.