Windy City Workouts!

     When I'm not exercising, I work as an English and Women's Studies professor at the University of New Hampshire.  Last week was the big annual conference of the Modern Language Association, one of my professional organizations (the MLA).  I was really tuckered out when I first got to Chicago, but woo hoo, boy did I love the Zumba classes I attended.  When I was in Chicago in September for the Critical Ethnic Studies Association conference, I used the Zumba app to find a class.   Great app, by the way!  I found one in Hyde Park, and I was so happy to be in a class filled with women of color.  They talked really candidly about how Amaris's class had enabled them to get off of medicines and how her class made them happy.

     Her class was very different from Alex's class, mostly because our arms were always in the air!  Lordy, were my arms sore at the end of class.  I really liked Amaris's music choice too.  As with all Zumba classes I visit, I like seeing how we do different moves to the same songs.  For example, in her class, we did "Meto Mano," and she included lots punch throwing.  Also, I love her stretch song, "The Way."  She told us to stop and drink water, but like Alex, she reminded the class to breathe.  It had a very nice vibe.

It felt really great to make time for this class.  Usually when I go to a professional conference, I either spend the conference running around in a scattershot way or hibernating in my hotel room watching Law and Order.  Getting away from the nervous energy of MLA and getting in a good sweat with really nice women was exactly what I needed to keep me calm and uplifted.