In Which Sanchezi Shakes His Booty

I like to dance. And I have been told I do it well. However…

A normal weekday here looks like this: Wake up, Go to school, come home and eat. Then lay on the couch and read, go use the Internet or blog, then eat again. Next, watch television or work on lessons. Then either read more, go to English club. Then come home and read, then tutor Nika. (or if its Wednesday go drink with friends). Then eat again and go get on Internet and /or watch a movie. Go to bed. Wake up. Repeat

Weekends (usually): Get on a Marshut’ka to another city, start drinking with friends and eat (maybe). Then wake up and eat and start looking around for cool stuff in city (or start drinking with friends). At night, eat and drink with friends. Go to sleep. Wake up, Get on Marshut’ka to go home. Start weekday.

As you can see there is very little to no cardio stimulation in that schedule.

Some Polish friends told me they were always late to Happy Hour Wednesday’s because they were taking a Georgian dance class. Fun!  So I went yesterday to check it out. The ‘dance studio’ is in the museum building or what used to be the museum. I walked there and sure enough one of the previously chained doors was open. But it was still ominously dark and empty inside. It didn’t look like a dance studio or a museum for that matter. I walked across an unfinished concrete floor headed in the direction of a naked light bulb dangling from the ceiling. In that corner was a dark staircase. Up on the empty second floor, I stopped to listen for sounds…  nothing. So I continued up to the third floor and it too was empty except for a sliver of light emitting from a door on the far opposite corner. Now, this could have been one of three things I imagined. One- a drug kingpin’s lair. Two- A brothel or Three- a Dance studio. I tiptoed up to the door as I have seen done in countless suspense movies. I peered in without being detected and saw my friends. Fortunately, it was a dance studio.

There were two male dancers plus the instructor and excluding the four polish girls only one Georgian female student. She seemed really interested in speaking to/ looking at me like she had something important to say. So I spoke to her in English and limited Georgian and she did the same thing back.  (Come to find out, she is a student in my school! She walked slowly by me today with hopes I would recognize her.)

They practice three times a week for an hour. The cost is 20 Lari a month. The instructor speaks limited English and some of the other guys speak limited English as well. But we managed, as is the case always. And thus my dance lessons commenced.

They said I caught on easy, but it was HARD to do! It’s a very technical and intricate dance. Which means I work and exercise parts of my legs that I didn’t know existed. But that’s good, reminding you of my weekly schedule, I NEED some cardio in my life!

Hopefully video and photos to follow shortly. But in the mean time, it kind of reminds me of:

This Video