Sex, love,
and dating are different, strange, hairy animals in the Peace Corps. I’ve seen many a chick flick or read a trashy
advice columnist that touted the benefits of keeping mystery in a
relationship. Don’t let the man see you
put on makeup or hear you fart.
Familiarity breeds contempt.
Any attempt
at sexy mystery is doomed to failure in the Peace Corps. It’s unavoidable that we share poop stories,
or that another volunteer will be with you during a poop story in the making. It is certain that you will have a public
breakdown at one point or another. We
don’t get proper hot showers for weeks.
Female volunteers wander around with armpit hair that would make a
viking blush.
This
shameless sharing brings closeness of another sort. I’ve shared situations with my friends here
that I’ve never experienced with others.
Levels of physical suffering, sadness, and filth that are rarely reached
in the U.S., and certainly not in company.
And it’s
generally a lonely life, so we volunteers look to each other for comfort and
levels of understanding deeper than many other relationships. There’s a current of understanding and love
running between volunteers in my group.
Hook-ups and relationships happen despite a lack of mystery and long
distance bus travel.
I haven’t
had a whole lot of luck in the PC romance department, just one brief fling with
a friend. At one point, my paramour
rolled over and said, “What would happen if I started trumpeting [farting loud
and uncontrollably] right now?” We
cracked up. I’d like to say that none of
the other fellows in my past would’ve said that to me (though it’s probably not
true). But there’s a level of comfort and a lack of pretension here that’s
refreshing. It’s impossible to keep up
facades, so we do away with them all together.
Maybe I’ll
be ready for mystery when I get back to the states, but until then, let’s keep
it smelly and straightforward.
Attractive, no?
Nothing says "sexy" like straightforward farting and foor poisoning. Thanks for putting a humorous spin on PCVs' lack of romantic mystery :)
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