Wednesday, November 17, 2010

adventures with mama graham, part 2


Have you ever heard of a fitness yurt?

I hadn't until the other day when a friend asked me to join her for an exercise class in one. It is, well, exactly what you think it would be. A yurt where you do fitness.

One of the amenities offered to military personnel here in Naples is a large park. It has a 9-hole golf course, swimming pools, playgrounds, soccer fields, jogging and hiking trails, cabins where you can "camp," and fitness yurts. This park is not far from our house, so Graham and I have spent a good amount of time there, but never had we entered a yurt until today.

And boy was it an adventure.

Here is where I want to talk about my experience with young Italian women, so far. The ones I have met have all had somethings in common. They are strong, forward, somewhat sassy, but well-meaning and kind.

Today, we met Carmella, the fitness instructor. Strong, blunt, and beautiful. She was enthusiastic about packing us women into a small yurt and telling us to pump a million pounds of weight. She was also enthusiastic about form. I could feel her eyes burning on me when I tried to slack. I didn't dare look at her, but somehow she kept managing to make eye-contact with me to show me a better form or tell me to COUNT. I can't get her voice out of my head. It keeps telling me to "INCREEEAASE for BIIICEPS!"

Graham got to play around in a little kid corral and watch all the mamas sweat. I didn't realize how much he was falling in love with Carmella until he went up and gave her a giant hug and kiss at the end of the class. Completely out of character for him. She must be magic.


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