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| With my Zumba Crew at Wendy´s House |
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| They won some Zumba Presents |
I had spent 22 years in Europe. I left Monterrey, Mexico in 1997 when I married my Swiss husband.
I started 2020 happy, because my family had adapted to the new Continent. And me too. We will always miss our friends in Switzerland, in Basel, the last place where we had lived. But we were already making new friends when suddenly, the Corona Virus subjected us to a harsh isolation in South Africa, in Cape Town.
Goodbye school, office, friends, movies, restaurants, gyms, stores, everything.
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| With Wendy |
Confinement. But reality was knocking on the door. What were we going to do when the only time to go for a walk or exercise was between 6 and 9 in the morning? Zoom meetings. Yes, virtual meetings through the Zoom platform. It was thus that thanks to my area group in Cape Town, Atlantic Seaboard, from the International Women's Club, the epidemic led me to pitch the idea to this group of getting together to dance Zumba, since for almost 9 years I had been an instructor in Europe.
It was the end of March. We were all new to the Zoom app.
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| And we dance together |
We had our connection issues, but we danced. Music and exercise helped us forget about isolation a bit. In addition to dancing, we all hoped to get together to have a nice talk before and after Zumba.
For many, Zumba was something new, but I think and I'm sure they loved it. My students, my dear Zumberas and I, we got to know each other in each session. To the rhythm of Cumbia, Salsa, Bachata, Merengue, Latin urban, Flamenco and Pop, we dance as if nobody saw us. For an hour we forgot what was happening outside.
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| A great Lunch after Zumba moment. |
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| My present from my Zumberas: a voucher for shopping at Canal Walk |
Things started to improve in South Africa. Spring came and with it the infections decreased. It was time to plan a meeting to dance together. A live Zumba class. The Zumba Lunch at Wendy's house was starting to cook.
And so it was, that at the beginning of December, we all gathered in Hout Bay to dance in our first live Zumba session.
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| And a beautiful turquoise-coral jewerelly set. I am feeling like a Aztec Princess! |
There were no hugs, but there was the security of dancing outdoors and at a distance. We couldn't believe it, and the virtual presence became the real world. We danced like never before and afterwards we enjoyed an excellent meal thanks to our host Wendy. Some of us were missing, but they were there in the distance enjoying ourselves. It was beautiful to see Jane, Anna Maria, Giovanna, Carole, Renate, Melanie, Claudia, Victoria, Amanda, Yvette, Wendy and of course, me.
Unfortunately the Corona Virus attacked strong again.
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| Great moments |
After our meeting the cases increased and a mutation was even found in it. The virus was beginning to spread more quickly and deaths in young patients were more frequent. The President of South Africa re-established Confinement level 3. This before Christmas. We leave Lockdown level 5. Our live classes will have to wait.
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| Zumba is dance and friendship. Zumba Love |
We continue to meet through Zoom and until now, January, we do not know when we will be able to dance live because although the Government has scheduled Confinement until January 15, the cases do not seem to go down.
But we do not lose hope. Soon we will be dancing again without needing a password to connect to the Zoom. Definitely one of the good things about this virus was having met my Zumba students through Zoom.
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| More dance!!!!! |
No doubt. Nobody needs this epidemic, but we need to dance Zumba to make our lives more joyful in these difficult times. Thank you Zumba and thank you my Zumberas from the International Women’s Club for allowing me to dance with you every week. We will continue dancing with Zumba at Zoom, but the day of seeing each other again is getting closer and closer. Life is better when you dance. Definitely!
