cha-cha-cha

My schedule in recent years has taken a toll on my health. It started during my PhD program when the work load seemed unattainable and the schedule difficult. I became very sedentary, sitting on the couch reading all the time. As a result, I put on weight.

Then I took a job where I traveled over 50% of the time. I spent most of my life in airplanes going place to place, jumping continents and time zones. It sounds glamorous, but it really takes a toll on your health. I had no routines - sleeping, eating, or exercise. I wasn't obese, but I definitely wasn't in good health. I could tell, in my body, that something had to change.

I started making time for regular exercise just before we moved overseas. When I told Kenyon I was going to join a gym and begin exercising regularly, for my mental health as well as my physical health, his immediate response was, "don't get skinny." How many wives get that response from their husbands?!

Lesley and I have tried exercise videos and multiple gyms. We settled on a local one (no foreigners but us) near our house. We stop by on our way home a few times a week. Recently, there was an aerobics class that we joined. It isn't anything like a US aerobics class, but it is fun and burns some calories. There is one strange phenomena at the end of aerobics in gyms here - no matter where we've been they end the class with the cha-cha. This doesn't happen during Khmer aerobics outside, but it has happened at more than one location at gym facilities. I was telling Kenyon about it the other night and he said, "can Cambodian's cha-cha?"

S: Not really. They don't move their hips at all. It is mostly like stomping their feet, with robot arms.

They may not have the latin moves, but they love it. People will come from all over the gym and the room gets packed during the cha-cha. It happens every time.

When I used to visit Africa, they would have salsa dancing nights and the African restaurant here has continued the tradition.

It is interesting to see that my culture is exporting something to other cultures - Latin dance. It is popular around the globe!