… or at least pretendin’…
So, as we all now know, being in a series of third world countries for 7 months often takes a toll on a girl’s “I feel pretty” mojo. Sometimes I wear a skirt, even though uncomfortable in the heat, just to feel semi girly… I put make-up on even though there is no one to impress and knowing that it will sweat off before an hour of being outside anyway. So, with all of these de-feminizing drawbacks, I had a brilliant idea the other day. I was in a mall… yes, a real mall with real stores and a legitimate coffee shop. Although my reason for going was to use the computer, I paused on the way as soon as I saw a shoe store. I mainly saw tennis shoes and flip flops, but over in the corner, I spotted them… heels.
Yes, my friends, it was at this point that I had somewhat of a moment of weakness. They just looked so familiar and fun and clean, so it was then that I made a critical decision… I needed to walk around in them. Now, I would like to apologize here to my male readers or even some female ones that don’t particularly take to this sort of thing, but the World Race makes you do crazy things… trust me.
Luckily, Samantha was with me, and I believe to this day that she was there of divine intervention, because if it were either one of the other two women on my team, the prospect of just trying on heels just to do it would have gotten a chuckle and day-long ridicule. I leaned over to her and said, “Samantha, we have got to go walk around in those heels.”
Needless to say, when it finally happened, I was pretty tempted to buy them… then I realized that I am carrying around a 40 pound pack that will not cradle a pair of shiny black heels in the most delicate way. So after walking around in a dirty tank, wrinkled shorts, and very dressy heels all to the spectacle of several staring Africans, I lovingly took them off and put them away safely in the cardboard box and said goodbye to what was probably the most satisfying girl experience of this whole thing. Yeah, I’ll never forget that… the day that shoes made me feel human.
