How to be a gata

I always wondered if a girls' drum group would really be any different from a guys' drum group. Well, here are a few scenes from the Gatas:

- Our fearless leader Angela gives us a huge cue with such an extravagant arm wave that one of her rings goes flying of her hand, hits the wall and rolls under a desk. We have to stop the samba because half the band has scurried across the room to look for the ring.

- We finally get playing again when suddenly one of our surdo players slightly grazes one finger on a lug. There is a tiny speck of blood. We all go "Awwwwwww!" and stop playing and cluster around to look. Somebody goes running for a band-aid. Somehow I don't think there'd have been as much sympathy in a guys' group...

- We finally get playing again when a glint on another surdo player's hand catches my eye. Oh my god! It's her brand-new wedding ring! I hadn't seen it yet. I lean in for a closer look and next thing I know, the entire band is clustered around oohing and aahing over her gorgeous ring, and yes, we've stopped the samba again. Again, not something I have seen happen in other surdo sections.

- we're all chatting when suddenly, during a lull in the conversation, one person's sentence happens to ring out really loudly, and the sentence is "Yup, those are some big titties." Which then starts us on at least a 10-minute conversation on big boobs vs. small boobs, times we've accidentally been caught staring at other women's boobs, how annoying it is to jog if you have big boobs, whether or not it's true that women in Costa Rica have really big boobs, whether or not they're real or fake, where the best place is in the Americas for good cheap boob jobs (Colombia, apparently), a prompt show of hands to the question "Who else here has small tits?", mutual agreement from the small-titted women that it's better to have small tits because you can wear tank tops with no bras "and not feel obscene", and a short speech about the Itty Bitty Titty Committee (ooh, can I join?)

- Chocolate at rehearsals.

- Hot pink outfits.

- Everybody can dance.

- well, plus, we are just cuter, what can I say?