Wednesday, August 6, 2008

never have I ever . . .

been so completely drenched... in my own sweat!!  Seriously, I am used to being overly dry all the time and going through lots of lotion in the 0% humidity of CO.  Here in Hanoi it feels like 100% humidity all the time.  Before coming, I was a bit nervous about that, but I really haven't minded it so much.  Look at the bright side- you never really need lotion, and you have a natural glow all the time :)  It seems normal after a while!  

Except... yesterday (Tuesday).  One of the gals here had heard about a "gym" next to this hotel.  A few of us were really missing our regular workout times and decided to give it a try after class.  So we got our workout gear on, brought some iAccessories, grabbed waterbottles, and took a bus to the street the hotel is on.  We were quite surprised at our discovery when we finally found the "gym."

Let's just say, there was no air conditioning (which takes on a WHOLE new meaning in SE Asia).  The windows were open, and there was no breeze. No one was in the room working out.  It looked like it had been abandoned years ago- all of the machines were really old (the treadmill was the type with rollers underneath- totally manual), and most of them were falling apart, paint chipping, etc.  We all just stared blankly at the sight in front of us, and then bursted out in laughter... There really aren't words adequate enough to describe this little room and handful of machines/free weights.  The hilarity of the whole scene was just too much.

We made the best of it and did some push-ups and sit-ups and whatnot.  And not to gross you out, but we were all dripping with sweat (which honestly was a new experience for this CO girl)!!  Every article of clothing was drenched, and I am not exaggerating when I say that.  It made us feel like we had SUCH an amazing work-out b/c we were sweating so much... and we really didn't do any cardio- so we decided to walk back.  It actually felt so nice and cool outside- although it was probably in the 90's.  

So... the morals of the story are:
-Watch those expectations!  The 80's treadmills might let you down.
-Laugh :) We had a blast.
-It's all a matter of perspective (90 degrees doesn't feel so hot anymore after working out in it).

Here's a picture of the 80's treadmill . . . and our adventuresome group (minus Bryant who took the photo).  We definitely made a memory.







1 comment:

Ryan and Lizz Durbin said...

I wish I could've seen you dripping in sweat! It sounds like you're having a blast! I miss you!