A friend of mine invited me to come with her to a Zumba class. That sounds like an exercise class, I can't do exercise classes. I have bad memories of almost passing out in my high school aerobics class. She said "No its like dancing." I decided to give it a try. I didn't know this ahead of time, but I was the only white girl in this class. The Zumba class is just a few blocks from my house and was all Latina women. My awkward whiteness and freakishly tallness stuck out like a sore thumb. Even though i am 1/4 Mexican, boy does that not come out at all in my rhythm. I am all gringo when it comes to Latin dancing. But taking the advise of a friend a while back, I decided I am just going to own it. I am going to own my whiteness and tallness and just do this, and do it badly, but do it. Sometimes I felt very self conscious about my lack of hip action in the dance moves but when I was able to let that go, I had a lot of fun. I hope that having a buddy will help me to keep this being a regular thing. I just have to keep tricking myself that I am not working out, even though I am covered in sweat when I leave.
