Before I left for Samoa I started what I liked to call me transformation, or so I thought. I stopped shaving my arms (don’t ask me why I did this, it was something left over from high school), I stopped straightening my hair, I stopped dying my hair, and I promised myself I would only shave every two or three days. I want to prepare to be a smelly hairy lady. I was sure that in the Peace Corp I would just have to forget all about my personal hygiene and get over it. This has not been the case, in fact far from it. I shower twice a day here, I get to wash and condition my hair every day. I shave everyday. I have to wear my hair up most of the time but I have come up with some pretty cute takes on the twist bun. I give myself a manicure and a pedicure once a week. I pluck my eyebrows. I brush and floss my teeth twice a day and wear my retainer every night. I have had a couple skin problems with bug bites and rashes, but in my new house this is not a problem. I’m not even breaking out in the humid weather because my face is being washed so often. I even wear cute clothes and make up when I go into town. I’m not this scabby, smelly, hairy and very unfeminine, unattractive person I thought I would be. In fact I think that all this time is making me more hygienic then I was in college. There were many a nights I skipped a shower to cram for a test, or went out and came home to crash with out even taking of my make up. It seems I maybe be more hygienic here in Samoa then I was in the United States. The truth of it is I could probably get away with not doing these things here in Samoa but it is one of my ways to keep hold of some part of me. Maybe I will become smelly and hairy later because I will realize how unimportant these beauty rituals are, but right not they make me feel good. So many things changed but I am really enjoying that my odor is not one of them.
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