Richard Simmons in the DR

I never thought that I would take my first aerobics class in the DR, let alone as a Peace Corps Volunteer, but that's what I did last Wednesday. Another volunteer told me he knew of two gyms in my town (imagine that!) and that each offer aerobics classes. I was immediately intrigued at the prospect of an aerobics class solving my problem of lack of physical activity. It turned out my aerboics class was very Dominican (why wouldn't it be?): flashy, loud and, at times, tacky.

Let's start with my instructor, Rony. A toned, animated Dominican in his early 30's, Rony sported a grey tanktop and skin-tight, purple spandex shorts that seemed to come straight from an '80s exercise video. Even his underwear line made an appearance. Despite the eye-grabbing outfit, Rony was energectic and motivating and always had a smile on his face. My fellow participants consisted of chubby (er, I mean curvacious) middle-aged dominicanas with headbands and leggings donned. I stuck out like a sore thumb both in age and size, but after one and a half years of being different in this country, I didn't mind.

The class started with, what seemed to me, basic moves, like the grapevine, arm pumps and leg raises while an intense merengue beat blasted from the stereo system. I focused on Rony's patterns as my peers already knew the routine. Next thing I realized, Rony's purple spandex-ed tush is shaking rythmically to the beat--and so were those of the rest of the class. I giggled both at the sight and from all the fun I was having as the class incorporated our aerobics with merengue dance steps. We even threw in some salsa steps, too. "So Dominican," I thought to myself. The other women, whom periodically would just stop to catch their breaths, pointed out me shaking my own tush, "Mira! Ella sabe! (Look! She knows how!)". After half an hour, my first aerobic experience was over, but not without a good sweat. I was pooped and walked slowly home. I looked forward to what the next class would be: "step" aerobics with wooden boxes and pepsi-bottle crates. Hey, it works and I got a work-out.