Rum Puree

Hello friends. I just got back from a massage. I bought this package deal down the street a few weeks ago where I got ten massages. I go get one once a week now. It's wonderful. I get all stretched out and stuff.

I went and took a Thai dance class last Sunday. I scoped out a studio where they gave classes a long time ago and I decided to take a trial class. I emailed them beforehand and told them that I was an English teacher here and was wondering if I would be able to take the class. I was worried that everybody else would have been taking the class for a while and it would be all Thai people and maybe it would be disrespectful for me to be there... haha. So they emailed me back and told me that it would be fine and that I should come.

I got to the class and the class consists of me, a Thai college girl, and the receptionist. The teacher is this cute older Thai lady that doesn't speak any English at all. I showed up a little bit earlier so I could register and pay and the receptionist was very confused on why I was not joining the ballet class that started at that time. haha I tried to explain to her that I was just very interested in learning about Thai dance a little bit and I wanted to try it out. Apparently it was not an everyday occurrence for them to have a white girl show up for it.

The teacher motioned for me to follow along and stretch my arms like the other student and then all of a sudden she started playing music and the other girl started dancing. I had no idea what to do. I just followed along the best I could. The teacher joined in and told me to watch her. We ended up doing 6 traditional Thai dances. Their was no warm up or explanation. The only thing I could really understand from the teacher was qua and sii, which means right and left. The receptionist was able to tell me that one of the dances was from Issean and another one was a northern tribal dance. I actually thought those two were the most fun to do because they were a little bit faster pace and kinda funky. The whole time I was there I was worried that I was just being a nuisance and bothering them, but then somebody came in and started taking pictures of me in the class. I usually don't like having my picture taken here (it makes me feel like an alien), but this time it acutlaly made me feel more welcome. haha At the end of the class the teacher kept wanting to know if I was coming back and seemed really excited that I had come. The receptionist told me that I should join. I told them I'd think about it. It would definitely be fun.

I don't really know how to explain Thai dance. It is mostly a lot of bending your hands in very unnatural ways and having your head follow them. haha Anyways, here is a link to the studio's website where you can watch one of the classes on a video.

http://www.rumpuree.com/dsp_dance.cfm?danceid=20