day 23: school day 4, and other stuff

Well, Spanish is going well. Today I worked with Matt (the guy I met in the bookstore, who said my earrings remind him of a Polynesian girlfriend he once had, he sits to the right of the thermos girl) and Devlyn, the nice girl who sits to my right. She's a natural Spanish speaker, having grown up in TJ, and Matt is Cuban and Argentinian, i think, and understands Spanish though he doesn't speak it well. They are helping me tremendously and now I feel more confidente. Each day, including the very first day of class, we each have to say something or read something from the book in Spanish aloud to the whole class. Others are worse than me so that makes me feel ok. I can tell time (c Que hora es?) and count to 100-ish. Its very easy, actually, just memorizing the numbers will take some time.

Side note, Devlyn told me that fitness credits are not required at City like they are at SWC... so I signed up for this boot camp class for nuthin... ... sigh ...

I got two pairs of new shoes with my birthday money from my parents, including a brand new pair of cross-trainers to wear to the gym. They are white and lime green from New Balance, and I feel sassy in them. I also bought new pants, which really are just pajama pants, but super soft cotton from my best friend Target for under $15. With my new knowledge of taking this class for no reason, I opted to give it one more shot, since its my last class before the refund drop date. Afterall, Hawaii is five months away...

It was our second day completing coach Colbert's boot camp circuit, then we had close to 20 mins of free time to work on whatever machine we wanted. Of course, these machines are O-L-D. The bikes are super stylie. The seats are non-adjustable ('cept for height) and I have bruises in places that ladies don't mention. In fact, their only adjustable knob tightens a blue shoelace around a spinning wheel and circa-1980's steering wheel cover vinyl on the hand grips. No electronics, not even bolted to the floor.

The most modern machines are stair-steppers that are sadly outdated, with their electronic screens reminiscent of the blood pressure machines i was scared of in Walgreens when I was a kid, with bleepy lights like a Lite Brite. I tried the eliptical, my very favorite machine, only to discover that the two most importante buttons are broken - the start button and the down arrow. So it sits at default 150lbs for 30 minutes and you can't 'start' it. lameness. We then spent the last 30 minutes or so of class doing his 'crunch club' where we all got onto mats on the floor and did variations of sit ups, crunches, etc. I was proud to see that I was the only one that A. could do all of the things coach told us to do, and B. did it without whining, sobbing, or falling over, unlike the 350lb rappy-fantastic across from me that smelled like a goat. And there's some little skater kid that followed me around, which was a little flattering and creepy all at the same time. After class, I felt super great, so I think I will stick this out afterall. And I might even enjoy it.

I decided to give the showers in the neighboring brand-new locker room. See, they built a huge two story fitness monstracity in the parking lot next to the fitness center. It is used for dance classes, sports training, kickboxing and apparently every PE class except for the one I'm in. Rumor has it they took all the 'good' machines out of our room andmoved them to the new building which is why our class sucks so bad. Anyway, there are new locker rooms complete with private showers. They do not have enough lockers for everyone, so I've been carrying my entire bathroom and Spanish books in my 50lb gym bag.

In the showers, which are like giant tile laden cubes, there is a heavyweight curtain running from floor to ceiling for privacy, and a fold down bench near the doorway. There's about 3-4 feet between the seat and the shower head, which was a tiny little thing, so I figured setting my bag on the seat was ideal. This is my first public shower experience as it was, so I was already a little jumpy, but when I turned the knob and was hit by ice cold water with the force of all of San Diego's water pressure, I was just about shot through the curtain and out into the hallway. I quickly figured out how to turn the nozzle to narrow the water jet, cuz you cant aim it up or down, so i was able to shower with a jet stream pointed at my noggin, but my stuff still got soaked. Thankfully I have four days to figure out plan B, and dry out my Spanish book. HA - I could just claim my Spanish is watered down! I know, don't quit my day job.

Psych class went well, and I kicked the pre-quiz quiz's ass. So I feel really great today. And I'm wearing my new sandals :) I felt so good, in fact, that I celebrated my great work out with Del Taco.

That's how I roll.