Hi, Anne,
You have gotten a lot of good advice so far. I did start in my 30's (hmmmm, lol) and have been going at it for over 20 years!
I live in Dallas so I know you shouldn't have a problem finding a teacher in the Houston area since I meet so many from there (and lots of great dancers). if you haven't already found HABDA(the Houston area Belly Dance Association), then here is a link for you:
http://www.habda.org/ - they have many instructors listed here.