One morning I was surprised to see an email in my inbox from a local gym interested in meeting me for an interview. Now, I’m pretty damn proud of my resume so it’s not that I don’t think I’m qualified to do the job but I had my doubts about my ability to do the job in Spanish. But I was missing my monthly Euro stipends and as my cash was running out I wasn’t looking forward to having to transfer my USD to Euros. I like a challenge so I thought why not? Let’s go for it, let’s learn something, let’s potentially embarrass ourselves, and definitely let’s freaking start studying Spanish gym lingo. 

It was interview time and I sat down nervous, slightly sweaty, yet still flaunting my power pose. Typically, when someone speaks Spanish to me I can catch the general gist but here in Andalusia it’s a bit more complicated with the accent, when some people talk I honestly can’t tell where one word ends and another begins. During the interview he asked about my education background and certifications. Then he asked me for an example of a program I would write for a hypertrophy client. I definitely had to use some hand motions and a mix of Spanglish but it was appearing as though I’d passed the test. Next I couldn’t quite catch the beginning part of his question but I heard Zumba and pilates. Unsure why but my immediate go to response was “si!” And he was like Wow! Perfect! That’s so great! I then realized I was unsure what I had just said yes to. 

He then goes on (from what I understood) to tell me that I may be teaching Zumba classes. Now, I freaking love Zumba, I love dancing. But the idea of me teaching a Zumba class (which I’ve never done before by the way) in Spanish had me internally howling of laughter. As the tour of the Sports Center continued I was getting slightly more and more concerned that I had accidentally told him I was a certified Zumba instructor. I decided to voice my concern and said, I just want to make sure I wasn’t confused back there, I don’t have a certification in Zumba, but I would totally teach a class if that’s allowed. Thankfully he hadn’t asked if I was certified so we were gucci. And I would only be teaching a Zumba class if the instructor ever can’t make it. Honestly I really hope I get to teach one because what an experience that would be. 

He also went on to tell me that I would be the only one working in the gym during my shifts. I was like okay no worries, great, I’m an independent bish. (Obviously didn’t actually say that but you get the idea). Then when my first day came around I realized I honestly had no idea what my job exactly was. Please enjoy this video of me voicing my concerns on the way to my first day:

It was my first time taking the metro to the gym so I decided to leave with 30 minutes to spare in case it took me longer than expected. I’m a slow walker so sometimes I have to add a few minutes on to Google Map’s suggested walk time. I got to the metro feeling confident I was going to slide into the gym doors with plenty of time to spare. To my surprise there was a metro worker at the entrance asking where I was going and then he proceeded to tell me something about changing trains at one of the stations (which is unusual because it’s one direct line). I step onto the metro thinking ha! Thank goodness I left early! About 10 minutes later I was surprised to see we were back at the original stop I had gotten on at. I had just taken a joy ride the opposite direction of my destination but now we were headed the right way. There was lots of construction happening so the metro was moving at -400 km/hour. As I continued checking the map and the time, my prompt arrival was not looking so good. I hate being late, and this was my FIRST day!! So, I ended up getting a 14 euro Uber which is probably half my paycheck of my first day of work. But, I WAS ON TIME DANG IT. 

I arrived, said hello to the sports complex doorman - didn’t understand his response back, got my temperature checked, rocked up to the gym entrance window in my plain black T and joggers, and said, “Hola, estoy aquí para trabajar.” The nice woman at the desk handed me my new uniform and showed me to the locker room. 

Luckily there was a fellow employee there to show me where I was supposed to go. The job was quite simple. I really just sit at the desk in the weight room, say hola to the gym goers, engage in small talk, and answer any questions about their programming. Sundays at the gym are rather slow and I didn’t want to be on my phone while I was working so I left it in my locker. I spotted some highlighters and blank paper at the desk and started some miscellaneous lists and coloring. I’m very thankful for my ability to read body language, tones, and context clues. For example one man asked me to turn on the fans (I heard the word ventilador) so I knew what I was looking for the problem was I had no idea how to turn them on and I didn’t want to accidentally turn off the gym lights. As I was searching the room, head tilted, brows furrowed, round and round he was shouting from across the room where I should be looking. The only word I caught was altavoz which means speaker so I walked toward the speaker looked around it and bing bam thank you ma’am, there was the magic switch! There were times I could help and times I really just could not. 

I waltzed out of my first day content. I was leaving a voice message for a client and now friend when I realized…

I left my freaking swirly twirly colorful artistic doodles and brainstorming mind map (v important) on the desk of the weight room. Had to turn my bum back around to go get it and thankfully the door was open so I could collect my belongings. PHEW. Not a great first impression to be drawing doodles day 1. I’m sure you’ll be hearing more of my adventures at the gym, especially if the instructor can’t make it to Zumba class one day and I have to step in (fingers crossed!). I’ve been studying my Spanish gym vocab with hopes that each time I work I’ll be able to engage more and more with the gym goers. When in doubt, I just continue to smile through my mask and say, Si! Qué bueno! 

Hasta la próxima :)