Do you Zumba?

In case you don't know...I'm kind of obsessed with a little thing called ZUMBA!  If you're like me and you love to dance, have fun and move around to fast paced music (also dislike running, yoga & other slow paced exercise and getting your "meathead" on with the weights) then you would love zumba.  So what is it?

Zumba: (zoom-bah)  According to wikipedia, Zumba involves dance and aerobic elements.  The choreography incorporates hip-hop, salsa, merengue, mambo, martial arts and some Bollywood and belly dance moves.  Squats and lunges are also included."  I love how they added this extra little tag line.  Don't we all love lunges and squats.  Oh but they're so good for you!!

My friends, Kat, Nolan and I have been going to Zumba at the Lowell World Gym pretty regularly for a while now.  I think it's safe to say we have an obsession.  "If you do zumba dances in public, at a party, concert or club - you might be a zumba fanatic."  Since leaving home, I have been having severe withdrawals from my favorite heart-pumping exercise - until last night!  I am now in the land of Zumba on every corner.  Literally every corner.  And it's not just in gyms or athletic clubs- there are places that specifically have Zumba classes.  I love it!  So, when a new gym just opened up on the corner of our street that we live on, we had to go check it out.  I suckered Ana Luisa, the 14 year old daughter of the family I live with, into going with me.  At the start of the class, it seemed we were going to have our own private class with our rambunctious, loud, short but strong and very energetic teacher.  Lucky for us, two more women showed up and completed our class of 4 students to 1 teacher.  Although some of my familiar surroundings from our classes at the World Gym were lacking {coin-shakey-skirts, 1,000 people, my favorite teacher ever, and my friend Jose}  the moves and music were so much the same!  What a relief.

Sorry to say we won't be returning to this gym again...the first class was free but unless you join their gym, it's 40 pesos/class (around $3.50).  Next time we are going to try out another nearby "Zumba-only" place.  It's only 15 pesos a class- only a little more than a dollar!  Crazy!

So, I faced my fears and "zumba'ed" in Mexico!  I even lured in another possible fanatic.  Nothing like a little zumba class to make me feel right at home!