Today we decided to pursue calling the Mind Body Zone again. We called two times, and left messages both times. Finally, close to the end of the day, the place called us back. They were going to be open tonight and nine o’clock Saturday morning, when their next class was going to be. When we decided that if Francisco (Our driver person that picked us up from the airport when we first got here) could drive us to the place, because it was dark out, then we would go. If we had walked, I might just very well be road kill right now.
Francisco was available. About fifteen minutes later, after we quickly hung our clothes out on the line, Francisco arrived at our home and took us to the place. The MindBody Zone is right next to the main Cemetery, which is also located next to another superstore, “El Rey”. The graves here are located above ground like the graves are in New Orleans. I don’t quite understand this completely, because we’re in the middle of the isthmus, but perhaps during the official rainy season it floods a little bit.
There are Tai Chi, Tae Kwon Do, yoga, and aerial dancing classes there. Tonight was yoga. This was our first ever yoga class. Honestly, I was a little apprehensive toward the whole yoga thing. All I’ve ever experienced of yoga is sitting on the ground doing the splits or something, which is really boring. Now, if you put yourself in a class environment where you can’t understand a word anybody is saying, and it puts a whole different meaning on top of the word yoga. When we were in Mexico, I took dance classes, and one of them was ballet. I’ve found I really dislike ballet even if it has many strength benefits, but shockingly it was a lot of fun in Mexico.
The instructor of the yoga class tonight spoke a little bit of English, which was beneficial, because I didn’t understand half of what he was saying until the very end. The lighting in the room was dim and there was music playing. It was rather nice, actually. We did handstands at one point, which was interesting. I got to demonstrate my ability to hold a handstand for a short period of time. Everyone clapped.
My handstand was nothing compared to the instructor’s handstand. His was really good. At least now I have something to work towards. I needed that. The end of the class felt a tad like naptime, but it was actually corpse pose. We were laying on our back, and then we were told to lay on our right side.
During this “time out” of sorts at the beginning of the class, I was stiff. My daily workout for the past week has consisted of pushups, tic tacs off of the walls, jump roping, and various other muscle building skills, and very little stretching. I was in a rather pathetic state when it came to stretches, but this class helped. If I keep doing this, I’ll be like a freaking rubber band by the end of the next two months.
Overall, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be… I’m pretty excited to start the aerial dance classes, and the other ones too perhaps. I’m finally beginning to see a future for my Spanish learning here.
(NOTE: This post was written when I was 12. I edited it in 2017 for grammatical errors and other technical stuff, but maintained the content to preserve my 12-year-old perspective)
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Finding the Alajuela Yoga Studio — By Jennifer Shipp
Umbrellas Would Be Nice – By Jennifer Shipp
Of Food and Classes — By Lydian Shipp
