Belted

This past Sunday, Raf and I participated in a Capoeira Batizado. It is a really fun ceremony where capoeiristas participating from our school move up to a new belt. When I visited Raf last May to find our apartment, he was experiencing in his first Batizado. I was lucky enough to be here for it, and I was really intrigued. The music, movement, energy, and basically whole feeling of Capoeira totally captivated me. Watching the very experienced folks play is really mesmerizing. The sheer skill and beauty of it, along with the rhythmic beats of the live music, well, let's just say that it wasn't hard for him to convince me that it would be a fun thing to do together once I officially arrived. And so I have been doing it for nearly a year! It has been a major learning process for me, and the acrobatic parts (which I love the most) are slow-going, but I definitely can feel my body changing. I can stay up for a decent amount of time in a hand stand (compared to never), can go into a back-bend from a standing position and in general just love the way my body feels (stronger and more flexible) when it is moving in such a way. Yay! To earn your belt you play against someone or a few people who are very experienced. I was a bit nervous (okay, I was super nervous), but I think I did okay, although it was a little goofy to watch on video ;) But I did it, and now I have a light green belt-- hooray!