Name Branded

With Christmas coming up, it´s easy to get tied up in material things. Today I went with my Amanda (a sweet missionary friend who is ALSO from Texas) to pick up a Christmas package at the central post office here in Lima. Picking up packages can be quite an ordeal, especially around Christmas time, and the whole event usually takes a good few hours. So, while Amanda was inside, (they one would let the actual recipient of the package into the post office) I wondered around to the nearest market to see what I could find. Surprizingly, I found that the market was filled with stores that sold American-brand clothing. I got really excited because I had found Ann Taylor, American Eagle, Union Bay, Old Navy, Forever 21 stuff for really cheap. I really didn´t need any new clothes, but it was more of the thought of being able to sport some American brands that can be somewhat pricey for pretty cheap. But then I had a realization-the only reason I was thinking about these things was to ¨impress¨ people with my clothes, and to the people here, names like Forever 21 didn´t mean anything.

Something very funny aslo happened while I was at one of these stores. I did try on a few things, and because the sizes here are so different, our American sizes mean very little to the average Peruvian. I told the lady I was looking for some skirts, and she pulls out one and hands it to me. A lovely skirt, but only one problem: it was size 1. Yes. I normally wear a 1....with a 0 attached on the end of that, but this lady was convinced that this wouldn´t matter and that I could still try it on. You can imagine how that went. What was even funnier is that when I asked for something with a little bigger size, she handed me a skirt in size 0. Yeah. That went over well. Or, should I say didn´t go over anything?!?!

Needless to say, I did´t buy anything at this market, but it did make me painfully aware that sometimes I dress according to what I think people will think of me.

Hope everyone is enjoying the last couple days leading up to Christmas...speaking of things to wear, can I just say that it´s SO WEIRD being in a place where it´s summertime during Christmas. Makes for some interesting santa suits....