the zumba sisterhood.

On my drive home tonight from a pretty fabulous mini session of solo retail therapy, I found myself totally rocking out to The Anthem by Pit Bull, which is quite the 180 from T-Swift's Speak Now CD I've been listening to 24-7. As I drove home, wishing I had my new glasses on me, pretending that I knew all the lyrics (please, I may know Taylor's lyrics, but Pit Bull?! ha, hardly), I found myself becoming ridiculously excited for my first day back at Zumba tomorrow night. I began taking Zumba a year ago, after my sister insisted I join her one night. Keep in mind that Ashley practically forced me to first try Groove with her. I *vividly* remember hating my sister for a full 60 minutes, as my two left feet made a very sad attempt to keep up with the rest of the class. To make it worse, I was surrounded my mirrors - front, left, right, back - to remind me of my complete inability to move my body (unless a cocktail is in hand). Refusing to walk out, and completely resenting my sister, who moves her little booty like she's the next Britney Spears, I sucked it up and finished the class. 


So, you can probably imagine my horror when Ashley insisted that I put my Groove experience (or lack thereof...ha ha)  in the past, and give Zumba a whirl.


And my oh my. Zumba was a totally different story. Zumba was love at first sight. Zumba had everything that Groove didn't. In Zumba, I could *move* my body, sans embarrassment - even with four mirrors surrounding me. The natural rhythm of the music - latin meets hip-hop - combined with the superfluous energy of the instructor was surreal. I could dance. And burn a gazillion calories. Simultaneously. Sigh. What's not to love!?


Flash forward twelve months later and my passion for Zumba is higher than ever. Only now I realize it's much more than getting a great workout in. Two days a week I meet my mom (an avid participant thanks to my sister and me), my co-worker - who I now consider to be a fabulous friend, and sister at the gym to get our "groove" on. Oh yes, that's right...homegirl now has groove. And so does my own mamacita. For a full 60 minutes, the four of us lose ourselves to the music and let our bodies dance in ways we ('cept for Miss Spears) never thought possible. We dance. We laugh. We sweat. And most importantly, we bond. It's amazing how such a simple thing has cultivated such a fantastic friendship between four women.


So thank you, Pit Bull, for reminding me of this ;)