Who would think that buying underwear would be an adventure? It reminds me of when I was studying abroad in Hungary shortly after the Iron Curtain fell. One of my fellow exchange students remarked that every day, when we stepped outside, we never knew what was going to happen, but there was always some different adventure every day.
Saturday morning, Hallie, our next door neighbor and fellow teacher hailing from Tennessee, and I set out to find me some new underwear. Just like the rest of my clothing, I thought I brought enough, but what I brought is not quite adequate. To add to the problem, I brought along my oldest underwear thinking I could just throw them away when we left. I don't think they're going to make it for another 4 months. The handwashing on the pila (a large concrete water basin that includes a built-in washboard and is used for everything from washing clothes to rinsing mops, washing children and housing turtles) is rendering them see through and stretching them beyond even my XL butt.
What's the big deal about underwear? Just go to the nearest super-shopping store and pick up a package in your size and be done with it. You say that as if there was a shopping mall right around the corner. Where is a tall US lady to go? How about upstairs from the vegetable market? That sounds like a likely place. Hallie and I marched upstairs, past small stores selling women's shirts, men's pants, pots and pans, plastic containers and buckets until we found a likely store. Hallie, whose Spanish is very conversational, asked about the "ropa interior" (inside clothing). "Do you have a larger size?" was one of the first questions. Out came the XXLs, looking amazingly small. I took out the pair of underwear that I brought from home to use as a size comparison. Hmmmm. XXL is still amazingly small. "But they stretch," indicated the saleswoman. For 30 limperas, the equivalent of $1.50, I felt like I could afford to try a pair to see if they would stetch enough to cover my big butt.
To put this into perspective, you must know that I am a tall person in a country full of tiny people. At 6'-0", I stand well above my students and am sometimes amazed to have them standing next to me and realize how tiny they are. The tallest men might be my height, but that is unusual. I think 5'-0" might be tall for the women here. I was careful to pack shoes and pants to last the duration of the trip knowing that it would be unlikely that I would be able to find any in my size should I need to buy new ones.
After leaving the vegetable market, Hallie and I continued our shopping, hitting a few grocery stores (please refrain from picturing your local grocery store or supermarket - grocery shopping here is nothing like that). We came upon another lingerie store and decided to give it another shot. Here, the underwear is kept in a glass case, so Hallie got to work asking if we could see it. "Mas grande?" Again, out came the XXL looking hopelessly small. "Mas grande?" I asked this time. (sigh) Out came the larger underwear, full of tummy tucking material and much longer on the hip line that I cared to consider. "Do you mind if I hold these up to your rear?" Hallie asked, "It's what my mother used to do to me to pick out my underwear." "Are you kidding? I am a large person in a country full of small people. Of course you can hold the underwear up to my butt!" (Keep in mind that Hallie is about 5'-0" tall herself, making us quite the amusing pair of gringas on the hopeless underwear shopping trip.) Hmmm, the underwear is not looking big enough. But they stretch, the salesladies insisted, illustrating by pulling the underwear out between them. I decided to save the $1.50 and just stick with the pair that I already had until I knew if they stretched enough.
Two mornings later, after wearing the freshly washed underwear for the night, I awoke to large, dark red marks left on my legs by the too tight elastic of the "stretchy" underwear. So much for XXL. But, if I can't wear an XXL, what the heck size am I?
The moral of the story: Underwear - don't leave home without it.
