Getting Buff....Yes!

 

 

 

 

October 9, 2008

We've taken the plunge and joined a gym! When I was in Seattle, Kim, while wandering the streets alone, discovered our new gym: Acquaelibrium. Again, we really hit it lucky because all the people we've dealt with couldn't be nicer. I really do believe that for people here in Alessandria, having Americans willingly living here is a real novelty for them. People always seem interested and a bit amazed that we are living here. While we can no longer say that we haven't heard English spoken on the streets, we can still count the number of times on one hand. A few days ago we heard someone with a British accent speaking as we walked by and yesterday, while buying gelato we ran into a group of folks from Minnesota. They are here visiting their sister who is living in Viargi--a nearby town in the wine producing region. She invited us to attend their wine tasting festival this weekend but without a car, I don't think we can get there. Her little town doesn't have train access.

The gym. It was quite a sight as five of us worked together to figure out the terms of our contract. Between the teeniest bit of English and lots of French with Italian thrown in, we were able to come to terms and we are now members. Whenever we walk in we are greeted like old friends and the owner keeps asking us if everything is going well.

They have a full gym with weights and machines; we had our evaluation and have our workout assignments which includes time on the tread mill and stationary bikes. We are signing up for the various water exercise classes; so far one with bikes and another called GAG. GAG is "glutes, abdominals and gambe (legs)". The bike class literally has bikes that go in the water with "cups" around the wheels to create increased tension; it about did me in! GAG was also good and next week we'll do others. Our biggest problem will be fitting it in to our very busy daily schedule. When we had our first evaluation appointment the other day at 11AM, I found myself whining to Kim that I didn't like having to be somewhere at an appointed time...how far I've slid!