2.6

First Day of Track Practice-

I woke at 5:15 am to the sound of the other coach calling me. The moon was still out. I yawned as I dressed and moved dazed out the door toward the dorms. I could hear murmurs as I neared, and as I turned the corner, 200 girls stood huddled, talking, waiting to run. They got up by choice. With some quick instruction from the head coach, we were off. One thing the coach said to the girls before we left was, "you're going to keep us entertained with some good music, right?" Yes, was the reply. I didn't really know what this meant. We began slowly at first, our feet shuffling to the sound of the coach's whistle in army like cadence. Beep...beep...beep...beep. Then came the music. Two hundred Ugandan girls began to sing out in versed cadence , again similar to that which one might hear from an army troop. We plodded on and on. The verses kept coming, moon beams continued to reveal our way down the dirt roads, and the girls continued running. In the States, every neighbor would have filed a serious noise ordinance against us, but here, the houses we passed seemed untouched, undisturbed by our cadence. I was surprised at how well they did. We walked/jogged for almost an hour, and most of the girls, I think, hadn't ran probably since football ended months before. The Ugandans just believe they can, or maybe they don't know they can't? All the girls either ran in beat-up sandals or barefoot. On the brick/dirt road, I don't know which one would be more difficult. No complaints though. No complaints about the road, the shoes, the time, nothing. How could I complain then either? I simply thanked God for the opportunity to experience a sight and sound that is so hidden, yet so beautiful. They even mentioned me in one of the songs, "kobi Paris, Paris, willi abolo, kobi Paris, Paris, willi abolo." (Mr. Paris, Mr. Paris, we're telling you to buy us some bananas!) Thank you God.