Going Commando

We are told that as Peace Corps volunteers we will have to give up a lot. Christmases, Birthdays, air conditioning, good food, movies, parties, toilet paper (ok, I have not given this one up, but TP is one of my most expensive purchases of the month). I’ve been ok with giving these things up. So, I did not get to watch the fireworks on the Fourth, but I did sis in the view of a mountain and eat homemade guacamole. And as for sushi, I just have vivid dreams about eating it thanks to my malaria prophylaxis. The one thing I never thought I would have to give up is underwear, but that is just what happened. I realized while I was packing for Mamou that I really did not have any clean clothes. I had two choices, wash them here, wait for them to dry and then go or bring dirty clothes and wash them with the running water at Mamou. I was among the first to arrive, headed straight to the big sink out back and did my wash. I even took off the ones I was wearing so that I would have a stock of clean underwear. I finished up in record time and hung it all out to dry. I went back a few hours later and it was still damp, so I left it. The other volunteers arrived and we prepped for our conference. Just as it was about to start getting dark, I went to take my clothes in (look up Tooba Flies) and found that while all of my clothes were where I left them, all of my underwear was gone. Trying to see the best in everyone, I went to ask the manager if someone moved it so it would not blow away or something like that. He told me he did not take it and confirmed that it did not blow away or fall on the ground. Thanks for the help buddy, but I checked the ground under the line first thing. I was getting frustrated and left at which point the man explained to the other volunteers that he didn’t like me accusing him of anything and that my laundry is not his responsibility. Can’t forget about that language barrier. I got Yama, a PC staff member to talk to him so we would avoid any confusion. Her basic take away is that the man was angry I did my own laundry instead of paying him to do it. She said that they may have taken it to teach me a lesson or maybe some kids stole it, but if they took it, it would be back by the end of the week. In the mean time, I had NO underwear. Not a single pair. And I was spending the week presenting in front of 72 youth. I started laughing/crying. I don’t know where the tears came from, but for the first time in Peace Corps I basically cried for no reason. I’m proud I made it almost 7 months. I was lamenting to one of the volunteers about trying to teach about assets and deficits maps all the while knowing I was going commando. She reminded me of the age-old adage of picturing the audience in their underwear to deal with nerves. She told me I could picture them in my underwear since that was probably what they were wearing anyway. And I made it. Besides the occasional oddly placed smile sneaking in when I remembered the ridiculousness of my situation, the conference went really well. My mom sent me more in the mail and I guess on the bright side, it was high time for some replacements anyway.