el gimnasio

Our gym is no New York Sports Club, but it´s really cute and I´m enjoying the hour we´re spending there each day. The first thing to understand is that it´s not a gym as much as an attic. We go in through the living room of these people´s house, where they´re often hanging out or watching tv!! They´re super nice, tho, and it doesn´t feel that strange. We go upstairs and there are kind of 3 sections to the one big room. To the left are a handful of weight machines, 4 stationary bikes, one elliptical trainer that doesn´t have any resistence, and two treadmills that are so old you can´t run on them. But I do a really fast walk and it´s enough for me to be sweaty after 20 minutes. There´s a cd player and a tv and dvd player to the right. There´s also a big empty area with mirrored walls, and when we get there a little before 6pm there´s an aerobics class of some kind that´s just finishing up. There are about 8 women or so, none of whom seem to be particularly buff or coordinated. At 6pm, a woman and 2 guys come and they do a quick Tae Bo workout (dubbed into Spanish) and then spend a lot of time on weights and mat work. The woman wears a heat belt AND a jacket -- they´re really into sweating here, and they get a bit mad when we gringos open the doors and windows to get some air. But they´re there every day, and so are we, so we get along. There´s another area where I attempt to jump rope for 20 minutes, which is in no way easy or successful (or a full 20 minutes of jumping, since much time is spent untangling myself), but I think I´m improving. And there are a bunch of mats to lie on for crunches and stretches, and a little water cooler for some (lukewarm) refreshment. There´s also a porch where we can go to take a break and sometimes bring mats out to workout there. The view from the porch is fantastic -- a bit of the town, mountains in the background, usually a bunch of clouds in varieties of blues and greys. All in all, not a bad deal for 250 lempiras (about $14) a month. I also have a pilates workout on dvd and an ipod running mix that I´m saving for a few months from now in case this all gets old.