Muchas gracias to Senor Alberto Perez of Colombia for creating this very dance-y and fun-y fitness craze, Zumba!
Zumba has now reached Zeoul and has its own Zumbees (I first thought of using Zumbelles but Zumbee sounds cute. Just don't spell it like zombie, or we'd be talking about horror movies. Ha-ha-ha!).
(Zumba teacher Lynn!)
On one chilly weekend, Zumba teacher, Lynn Smith gathered her friends, as well as friends of friends, for an afternoon session of Zumba fun and fitness in the Yongsan-gu area!
According to Wikipedia, "Zumba involves dance and aerobic elements and incorporates hip-hop, soca (I don't even know what it is), samba (I know the beat), salsa (I know the taste), merengue (I know how it's baked), mambo, martial arts (of course, karate), and some Bollywood and belly dance moves."
And from the first beat of the Zumba tunes she prepared, Lynn drove everyone to move, not just like Jagger, but like Zumbees on a mission: to sweat, to lose weight, to get fit and most of all, to have fun!
I wasn't exactly on the floor doing the moves like everyone else; I was at the back taking photos and well, eating! Ha-ha-ha!
(Zumba, callos and Coke! Not exactly in that order)
Perhaps, the biggest difference between any Zumba session and a Zumba session organized by Filipinos is...food!
(Zumba zangria!)
(A Zumba buffet table! Ha-ha-ha!)
In case you get tired, you could just take a break at the back, and gobble up kimbap, fresh fruits, pancit, maja blanca, French bread, banana turon and of course, Mary Joyce's unforgettable callos and arroz caldo! It was a Zumba picnic! We even had Zumba zangria!
(Freshly baked French bread)
(Mary Joyce's arroz caldo and callos!)
And as if one Zumba teacher wasn't enough, fellow Zumba teachers Tita and Yira also came and conducted sessions, leaving everyone breathless and a few pounds lighter (that is, if we don't consider the callos, pancit and arroz caldo. Ha-ha-ha!).
(Banana turon from Joy!)
I think Zumba is a fun alternative to your usual aerobics class because it's all about dancing as well as aerobics.
(Zumba teacher Tita!)
I hope the next time Lynn schedules her next Zumba picnic, er, session, I will have the time to join. But right now, I haven't decided yet whether it's the dancing I look forward to....or the eating! Ha-ha-ha!
(Zumba teacher Yira!)
(The Zumbees!)
