Track Practice

First day of Lent, got up early and prayed. I think I'm going to start getting excited to wake up early. We'll see if I still think that in a week or so. Yesterday was so great, well okay the day at work was normal but track practice was wonderful. Coach Ba is one of those coaches, who from day one feels like he's a fatherly figure (a Mr. Berry type of guy). I did a workout partly on my own and partly with Coumba. Her goal is to be the national champion for the 800m. I realized after talking with her that club sports don't signify the same thing that they do in the U.S. These people are competing for national titles. The ambiance is great among all the athletes. People are goofing off, dancing, laughing, working hard... and its all so genuine. After practice we all went and drank Café Tuba (a specialized Senegalese tea) at a market place nearby. All of us sitting around a rickety old table outside, while the women preparing the tea made the yummy concoction made for one of those simple pleasure moments. Coumba and Mor walked me home and I was left excited to see everyone the next day. I love how everyone is open... no crap, no barriers or fakeness... at times I think I get tired of that in the U.S. Of course not with my close friends, but in the day to day encounters... actually I don't know if that's true either. I guess it’s just that this place seems a bit more real in that the people recognize what’s important and are not so caught up in all the hoopla that the U.S.