Upon an extensive search of the internet (okay, like 5 minutes of searching) it has come to my attention that there is a lack of videos or candid pictures of white girls trying to do Zumba.
Zumba is a high-intensity cardio exercise. It's pretty much just an aerobics dance class, but with a Latino feel.
And it is the funnest!
Oh, my god. It's just ridiculous amounts of fun. Like, I'm pretty sure I smile the whole time- especially if the teacher is really getting into it to. But though I'm having a blast- there are certain things that these painfully Caucasian hips just cannot do.
So, yesterday morning I stopped by a Zumba studio on the East Side- Corazon Latino Dance Studio. And I feel that it would be safe to say that this place is authentically Latino- which is great! But certainly added some unnecessary awkwardness to my experience.
I had purchased an online deal through Living Social. $19 for 6 classes I know! Very excited. The poor woman working the desk had no fucking clue what the print out I was handing her was.
Me: Hi! I'm here for the 9am class.
Lady: Ok, you have card?
Me: Oh, no I bought the Living Social deal
hands print out
blank stare from across the desk
Lady: You buy 6 class?
Me: Oh, I've already bought 6 class-classes. I've already paid online.
Lady: You buy card?
Me: I... I what?
Lady: You have the card?
Me: I... paid with a debit card... online?
Lady: que?
Me: What?
So, after some time of this exchange I make it into the class just as it's starting. This studio offers several different styles of class, but I had decided just to attend the typical Zumba with the teacher Marispy . Marispy is gorgeous & I hated her immediately for it (oh, here's a picture of her from the website. I feel you're with me on this one now). The initial hate started to ware off once we got moving.
And this is where we make our way back into needing some hidden camera style video of white girls trying to do some of the shit that Marispy was trying to get me to do. The best I can find is this:
Zumba is a high-intensity cardio exercise. It's pretty much just an aerobics dance class, but with a Latino feel.
And it is the funnest!
Oh, my god. It's just ridiculous amounts of fun. Like, I'm pretty sure I smile the whole time- especially if the teacher is really getting into it to. But though I'm having a blast- there are certain things that these painfully Caucasian hips just cannot do.
So, yesterday morning I stopped by a Zumba studio on the East Side- Corazon Latino Dance Studio. And I feel that it would be safe to say that this place is authentically Latino- which is great! But certainly added some unnecessary awkwardness to my experience.
I had purchased an online deal through Living Social. $19 for 6 classes I know! Very excited. The poor woman working the desk had no fucking clue what the print out I was handing her was.
Me: Hi! I'm here for the 9am class.
Lady: Ok, you have card?
Me: Oh, no I bought the Living Social deal
hands print out
blank stare from across the desk
Lady: You buy 6 class?
Me: Oh, I've already bought 6 class-classes. I've already paid online.
Lady: You buy card?
Me: I... I what?
Lady: You have the card?
Me: I... paid with a debit card... online?
Lady: que?
Me: What?
So, after some time of this exchange I make it into the class just as it's starting. This studio offers several different styles of class, but I had decided just to attend the typical Zumba with the teacher Marispy . Marispy is gorgeous & I hated her immediately for it (oh, here's a picture of her from the website. I feel you're with me on this one now). The initial hate started to ware off once we got moving.
And this is where we make our way back into needing some hidden camera style video of white girls trying to do some of the shit that Marispy was trying to get me to do. The best I can find is this:
(I will volunteer to bed taped unawares. Not because I think I'm awesome, but because I am a life long fan of comedy)
But I feel like maybe that doesn't even completely embody the weirdness of it. Now, I've been to other Zumba classes & there's always some sort of move that I can't do, so I usually find the other pigmently challenged person in the room & see what they're doing, or -if worst just comes to the very worst- jog in place for a little bit.
Goddamnit, Marispy. She had me damn near jogging in place for the whole 60 minutes. Now, I am always one for a challenge when it comes to exercising, so I was like "yeah, fuck it. I'll give it a real go"... until I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror.
I don't know if it was a mixture of it being the first class of the morning, I wasn't getting into the music she was playing (some of it was pretty mellow), and the sheer frustration of my genetic rhythm limitations, but I was feeling done! D.O.N.E by about 40 minutes in.
I really don't feel that's fair on the folks at Corazon. Corazon is not too far from my neighborhood, is way afordable (even without the the Living Social deal, it's only $8 a class, which is a good deal) & offers a good schedule for people that have the ocassional week day off or that go to work late, get off early or students that live or don't mind commuting to the east side (side note: I would not recommend trying to get to their 6 pm class on a week day unless you already in that part of town. Traffic is balls in that area from about 4:30-6:30). Their staff is friendly & it's not the front desk lady's fault that she had no idea what was going on.
So, while I do look forward to using up the rest of my classes, I'm not sure if I can handle all this awkwardness in my life as a long time patron.
Goddamnit, Marispy. She had me damn near jogging in place for the whole 60 minutes. Now, I am always one for a challenge when it comes to exercising, so I was like "yeah, fuck it. I'll give it a real go"... until I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror.
I don't know if it was a mixture of it being the first class of the morning, I wasn't getting into the music she was playing (some of it was pretty mellow), and the sheer frustration of my genetic rhythm limitations, but I was feeling done! D.O.N.E by about 40 minutes in.
I really don't feel that's fair on the folks at Corazon. Corazon is not too far from my neighborhood, is way afordable (even without the the Living Social deal, it's only $8 a class, which is a good deal) & offers a good schedule for people that have the ocassional week day off or that go to work late, get off early or students that live or don't mind commuting to the east side (side note: I would not recommend trying to get to their 6 pm class on a week day unless you already in that part of town. Traffic is balls in that area from about 4:30-6:30). Their staff is friendly & it's not the front desk lady's fault that she had no idea what was going on.
So, while I do look forward to using up the rest of my classes, I'm not sure if I can handle all this awkwardness in my life as a long time patron.
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