True friends are the ones who make asses out of themselves with you :)

There always has to be a little humility (or a whole lot) that goes along with trying something you've never tried before, especially something like belly dancing.  And, you MUST be able to laugh at yourself.  This is not a problem for me.  I'll be the first to admit that I'm a huge goofball.  It's one of my many charms.  :)

Well, week two of belly dancing found me with another friend tagging along, which made me soooo happy!  I've known Anne since high school, and while we weren't always super close, we are the only two out of our original group that still communicate.  Weird how life works.  It's great having Anne along for the ride.  I don't know if it was the addition of Anne to our group or if I had finally put the negativity past me... most likely a combination of everything... BUT, this week's class (when I say this week, I really mean week two which was November 10) was so much more enjoyable!  I'm still not great at it... still have difficulty isolating my shoulders (shoulder shimmies shall be the death of me!)... still get frustrated a little when I don't catch on.   However, in the face of these things, I am able to keep my sense of humour, which is a nice change.

I bought a new exercise outfit (the pants were too long... which caused me to slip on the floor a little bit at one point... the pants have since been shortened) and I also purchased a waist scarf (pink, natch!) with coins.  Can I just say how much fun it is to make noise with the coins?  I so enjoy the shimmy of the hips.  I could do that the whole class and be happy.  :)  

You might be wondering about my goals (and I'll be honest, I only remember the mirror goal right now, but I know there was a "larger" goal about enjoying myself... don't know the specifics of what I said).  Anyhoo, I did indeed work on goal #1.  That mirror can be mighty intimidating, but I'd say I kept my eyes on myself for 80% of the class.  Obviously I still had to watch the instructor.  So a HUGE improvement over last week.  I know that I will only get better if I watch what I'm doing so I know what needs to be corrected.  It's still hard to keep my eyes on myself because I don't always like what's reflected back at me.  While I mean it literally, it also applies figuratively. 

We got to see the routine that we're supposed to be learning.  If I pull it off, I'll be impressed.  We have five weeks left, which doesn't seem like enough time.  I know I won't be an expert by the time I leave, and I'll be disappointed if I don't manage the routine with at least some degree of competence, but, I think I'm beginning to accept that if the only thing I come out of this class with is an improved sense of self, that'll be better than I could have asked for.