practicing sports

Today, one of my friends from town introduced me to a place where we can safely and comfortably practice sports.  And by “practice sports”, I mean exercise.

I was first introduced to the Moroccan phrasing for exercising while staying with my host family in Rabat back in September.  My host sister mentioned that her mom practices sports in the basement.  I had visions of Host Mom playing tennis or kicking around a soccer ball, when in reality, she was running on a treadmill or doing crunches on a stability ball.

For months, I have been meaning to find a gym here and actually get to exercising.  The gym my PCV friend took me to was similar to gyms back home and featured a mirrored room with six or seven pieces of cardio equipment, a large room for aerobics classes, another large room with free weights and weight machines, and another large room off the weight room.  They also have a locker room and six showers that had wonderfully hot water.

After checking out the facilities and participating in a women-only aerobics class, I liked the place well enough to want to join the gym.

The membership cost for one month is 170 dirham, or about $21.25 US.  Starting next week, I’ll be able to practice sports multiple times a week.