One of the things that I have noticed with every departing member of the embassy, is they seem to discover a store, restaurant, or activity they didn’t know existed in the community just before they are about to leave. This inevitably leads to a comment along the lines of “I wish I would have known this existed when I first got here”. This moment finally happened to me.

Shortly after I got back from our Christmas holiday trip, I was asked by some colleagues to join them for a game of padel. If you have never heard of padel, this video explains it pretty well. Simply put, it is a racket sport that is a combination of tennis and squash, almost always played in doubles. Technically more difficult than pickle ball, but not quite as demanding or difficult for new player as tennis. Padel is HUGE in Spain and because Nouakchott has a large Spanish expat community, we have a great padel facility, amazingly called Sahara Padel Club.

I fully admit I am not one that enjoys physical activity. I try and walk half an hour a day, but that’s the extent of my desire for heart pumping physical exertion. Padel has definitely changed that. Because the game is more about precision and less about power, and because it is a social doubles game, I have found myself loving this sport. Our embassy group has also all gotten into it around the same time, so there isn’t a huge skill gap and it’s been fun improving our abilities together.

Unfortunately, it’s following exists largely in Spain, Sweden, the UK, parts of Latin American, and in a few U.S. enclaves. As a result, my new sport’s portability is difficult in this profession, where I doubt I will be able to play in my next tour. Sadly, I now find myself staring down the final 3 months of my tour telling myself “I wish I would have known this existed when I got here”. Definitely going to enjoy it. -Nick