Adventures in Zumba Class

Back in college, my friends and I would go out dancing fairly often.  In SLO, the Grad was the place to go dancing, especially as an underage person, since they had an age 18 and over night.  I really enjoyed dancing.  It was fun, exciting, and as a side benefit, it helped me stay in shape.  My sweet dancing skills are actually what first caught Danny's eye, but that's another story.

So after having four kids in three years, and then basically refusing to let my heart-rate rise to a place where I'd actually sweat, I figured my dancing days were over.  Just trying to move this new figure of mine with any sort of rhythm just feels wrong.  Really wrong.  I feel especially bad for any poor, unfortunate bystanders who might observe my attempts at dancing coolness.  It ain't pretty.

So when my sister mentioned that she'd like to attend this Zumba class today, I felt my heart pounding faster, my palms sweating a little.  Isn't Zumba like basically super fast rump-shaking?  Don't you have to have "moves"?  Wouldn't we be the only white people there, and therefore struggle to keep up with the fast moving latinas surrounding us? Fear was all I could feel.  My sister, Ayron, felt no apprehension whatsoever.  "I'll be there at 9:00.  You better be there," she threatened, with her finger raised in my face.  And that was it.  I had somehow gotten roped into a Zumba class.

At 8:55 this morning, we tiptoed into the Zumba class, and lined ourselves as close to the back wall as possible.  Actually, some older ladies had already stationed themselves there, and they weren't budging, so we were one row up.  I looked at the lady behind me and silently warned her and apologized at the same time for her poor choice in location.  She was too focused on stretching to pay me any mind.

All of a sudden, this little gal with a huge grin starts playing the music.  It is loud. It is fast. It is in Spanish and I have no idea what the guy is saying, but all I know is, I have to move along with the little gal in the front.  She could do things with her hips I've only seen in MTV videos (ten years ago, mind you), and I swear her feet moved faster than a normal human being.

The steps were complicated for big old 5'11 April, but I kept moving.  Slowly, I loosened up, and my body starting cooperating.  Then it got fun.  Incredibly fun!  Ayron and I danced and moved to that Zumba class for 50 minutes.  By the time it was all over, I was drenched.  The older gal behind me didn't even break a sweat.  We walked out of that room with a little swing in our hips, and a little more fire in our bellies since we had discovered one more fun and inspiring way to get fit: Zumba!