6 Missionary Couture

I didn't know my travelmates before I took this trip. So the first time many of them saw me for any length of time was in a village on the equator.  I can't decide if a tropical jungle look is the best baseline/frame of reference. On one hand - these people will ALWAYS be pleasantly surprised in future meetings when I don't smell like BO (I mean that's the plan, anyway).  On the other hand, I not sure these folks appreciate that in civilian life, I’m not actually a janitor. 

One issue with my San Eduardo wardrobe was that it was a little.....repetitive.  See....when I hear 92 degrees with 100% humidity.....I think shorts - NOT how can I make my knees sweat even more by wearing pants.  But it turns out women don't really wear shorts in the village. Considered inappropriate. G-reat. I am horribly mispacked with shorts and not pants.  Right outta the gate on this mission trip and I already need a loves-and-britches miracle. Which makes me really, really, really wish I hadn't removed those extra pair of Kuhl pants that Rita had packed so I could make room for my spandex shorts. 

So that left me with 1 pair of jeans, 1 pair of legit camping pants and one pair of pants that you could unzip the legs off to make.....shorts. They were seriously unattractive. The only reason I brought them was 1) because Rita told me to and 2) in case I needed another pair of shorts.  Turned out all the guys had the same pants. Nice. (Missionary Barbie, I was not.)

The second issue emerged on Day 1 when I went to clean the bathrooms.  That's right, you heard me, clean the bathrooms. Apparently, the motto of my church group is "from each according to her abilities...." and I know how to clean toilets in Spanish. ANYWAY, day 1 cleaning activities included my co-worker splashing the entire left leg of the only legit camping pants I had with bleach.  So now I can't even pretend I'm wearing similar but new pants on days 3, 5 and 7 because they are now distinctively bespectacled with the evidence that I don't know how to clean a bathroom.  

Whoever said "the less you pack, the happier you'll be" was a boy.  I wished I had a judgment-inducing massive suitcase and pants that didn't walk on their own. 

By the time we got back to Quito and I showered and put on the new jeans I had bought, I looked like extreme missionary makeover. And again, for most of my travel-mates, this is the first they have seen me in civilian clothes (clearly, I need to improve my church attendance).  One person exclaimed "you're so clean!"  There is no hiding the fact that the unspoken end to that last phrase is "compared to usual".  Someone else incredulously asked "are you wearing makeup??"  Me: I often wear makeup after my janitorial shift is over. 

Finally, when someone said "Your hair is soooo blonde after being in the sun for four days", I wasn't about to own up to the fact it's always that color when its clean. 

All that to say, laundry day in Nashville is going to be quite an event.  I hope Rita can help me get that bleach stain out.