For the past few months, I’ve been going to capoeira class here in Seattle. The class is being started up by a guy who recently moved here from Wisconsin, and is affiliated with my capoeira school in SF. So I was excited to find out he was starting up an Omulu branch here, but also wondering how much I wanted to commit to it.

The classes started out in Belltown, which wasn’t a far drive from our apartment in the Central District. Then he moved the class to a community center in Queen Anne, which meant a farther drive–and also meant going through a busier part of town. Driving from the CD took awhile, which meant going to class from Rainier Beach would take even longer.

The past few times that I have gone, it has taken me anywhere from 30-45 minutes. Today, it took me more than an HOUR. It only took me about 15 minutes to get from my garage to the exit, but once I got to the exit, I sat on the exit lane on the freeway for about 25 minutes. The freeway exit happens to be one of the worst ones within downtown Seattle. Once I got off the freeway, it took me another 20 minutes or so just to get to the community center.

As I walked up the stairs to the classroom, I listened for the familiar sounds of the capoeira music. Nothing. No…please let them just be stretching. I walked to the classroom. The lights were off. ARGH. DOUBLE ARGH. I called the instructor. “Oh…I forgot to tell you I’m out of town. I meant to email you, but I had such a busy morning, and my flight was at 2:30. I’m sorry…but next week, we’ll be there, and there will be two more students.”

I had to bite my tongue not to sound too frustrated. I wasn’t about to get mad at someone I barely knew, and then have to face him the following week. “It took me an hour to get here, and I just thought maybe you guys left because you thought I wasn’t coming,” I told him. I didn’t care that he had a busy morning, as I’m sure he knew he was leaving town in advance. I had just been stuck in traffic for more than an hour for NOTHING. I got off the phone as quickly as possible.

The classes have been pretty sporadic over the past few weeks due to the holidays and busy schedules. Plus, our class of 15+ in Belltown shrunk down to five when it moved to Queen Anne. Then after the new year, it shrunk even more to three–me, the instructor, and his girlfriend. In the past, when he canceled class, he would call or e-mail me, so I assumed it would be the case every time.

It’s frustrating to me, though, because every week, I really have to force myself to go to class. It wasn’t like breakdancing, which was about five minutes from my apartment and SO MUCH FUN. I looked forward to it every single week. Capoeira is fun when I’m there, but it just takes so long to get there. It’s not even far. It’s just the traffic that makes the trip frustrating. But a huge part of me feels almost obligated to go because of my history with the Omulu school. I know I really don’t have obligations, but I really empathize with the instructor who is eager to build up a capoeira school in Seattle.

Anyway, I called Matt and just growled over the phone. “Go get a boba,” he instructed. That’s definitely a cure-all for me. :) So I took advantage of being in the city, stopped by REI, and then made it to Gossip for boba before it closed. By the time I got home, I was ready to relax with my boba, and all was well once again.