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"I grew up in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic," she said. "One year, when I was about five, my cousins and I got Hula Hoops for Los Tres Reyes Magos (Three Wise Kings day), when Christmas presents are given."

Wendy remembers being immediately infatuated with this new toy. "I would run up and down the block, doing errands for grandma and visiting friends while "hooping." I could do it for hours at a time. That's all I did. I didn't like dolls, I couldn't play sports, but I could Hula Hoop."

As Wendy entered Junior High School she stopped hooping because "I got tall and skinny and looked silly," but lately, her interest has come back. "I didn't really start again till last year when my friends saw how good I was and thought they could start a business on the beach selling hoops to people and telling them that it was a good workout."
 

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"It looks simple," she said, "but you spend some time shaking those hips and you feel it in the stomach. I need to practice some more to really get in shape. I'm getting older, remember I'm 24 now."

Wendy, looking at the photos, we don't think you have to worry too much about getting in shape, but we're interested in some Hula Hoop lessons! In fact, you can see how Wendy showed others how to Hula Hoop in our 1999 Hula Hoop retrospective.