Train Hard Stay Humble

If I am going to eat the delicious food of Spain, if I am going to start dinner at 9:00 pm, and if I am going to enjoy the plentiful and joyful vino of Spain, then I am going to have workout. So off to the CrossFit box I go.

The gym is a 10-minute drive from my apartment. I arrive and meet Albert, who is cute, muscular, and covered in tattoos. His English is good. He checks me in. No one asks me to sign anything. Even though I am going to lift 45 lbs over my head in mere moments, there is no paperwork! No release of claims? This is no American gym.

Legal digression: In Spain, since 1995 personal injury law is subject to damage caps. There is no jury. The judge determines fault, then awards damages based on a pre-established scale. A lost limb is worth $X. Death is worth $Y, etc. I can't say this is fair to the injured. I am a big fan of the "jury of one's peers" . . . but this approach does cut down on paperwork. Back to the story . . .

There are plenty of other women in the gym. I'm feeling good. The class is

entirely in Spanish. I have been taking Spanish on and off for three years. But it never sinks in. My brain is like an old tire. The rubber just isn't as soft and impressionable as it once was.

I guess I learned a few words though because here is what I heard:

Blah, blah, blah, knees, blah, floor. Blah, deadlift. Blah, blah, blah, blah, clean, blah, blah, fingers. Blah, blah, burpee, blah. WOD, blah, blah, heavy, blah, blah, four minutes three times. It goes on like this...

A lot of my life now is just like this: a mix of words I know sprinkled into a sea of words I don't know, pantomime, confusion, plus smiling and nodding (even though I am clueless). Somehow I get by.

During the class, I meet two new amigas. Costanza from Venezuela who came here to get pregnant and have a baby. Another woman is Dutch. They are both perfectly nice. We struggle to chat in a mix of Spanish and English while we lift heavy things.

After class, I purchase a monthly membership. I am feeling accomplished. With luck, this will be a small community of folks for me to enjoy each week. But mostly, I am here to burn off the churros, queso, vino, arroz, pollo, and pan that is my new eating world.

Gym membership: check.