Not Yo Mama’s Zumba

1/8/14

Manahoana daholo! Hope you had a happy holiday!

So back in September, my boss at chamber of commerce’s wife started a Zumba class in our town.  It started out with about 10 women, and now we regularly have between 15 and 20 on a good day, and usually around 5 young girls.  Now, zumba in America is focused on burning calories and getting fit in a fun way, so they mostly just encourage you to keep moving, even if you are not getting the steps exactly right.  Our zumba kind of started out that way, but as we get bigger and more popular, we have started giving performances.  We have now become have dance team and half zumba group.

I missed the first couple of “performances,” which were large invitational dance classes.  Just before Christmas, however, our group was invited to perform in front of the commune for a demonstration of the dance and martial arts groups in the area.  We invited a large group of high school girls to perform with us, so they practiced with us the whole week leading up to the Saturday performance.

One of the women in the group, a good friend of mine named Nini, bought a bunch of neon colored tank tops, some of which actually said zumba, in Tana, and brought a bunch of brightly colored ribbons and make-up.  I don’t think I have worn that much glitter since middle school.  We wrapped the ribbons around our arms and legs, sported the spunky tanks, and danced the glitter off in the bright sun.

Here’s the kicker though: our coach was unable to attend, so groups of us actually taught each of the dances.  I lead one with two young girls and helped on two others.  It was really fun!  I think if I need a part time job in the states I would look into being a zumba instructor.  However, my favorite thing about my zumba team (even more than I love the dancing) is that this is the first time I have been just a part of the team.  I am an equal member in this organization, not the teacher, not the mentor, not the observer.  While it was really fun to help lead the group, I was more excited to just feel like a part of something, completely.

Looking forward to attending three times a week for the rest of my service!

-Sarah