Lachinas

In a “diverse market” where various products come together in a single market and therefore create abundant options, consumers gain an increased benefit of choosing the perfect fit. Following this theory, I have discovered that generally the Latin Americans are my soul mates in this world.

I would even happily sit at a table with them and understand nothing of what they are saying in Spanish and Portuguese. I would let the pretty language wash over me and I would feel perfectly warm, perfectly at home. It is strange.

I went to Mexico with a bunch of enthusiastic latinas who took off their clothes and greedily soaked up the sun like a sponge. One of them, hugging her self with a smile tilted towards the sky, described the warmth of the sun like having someone hold you in his arms. For hours they lay on the hot beach drinking mango margaritas, comparing each other's tans when the day was done. When I told them I'd rather be white they were visibly shocked. They say I have perfect skin-tone. They had beautiful bodies but the beach was also filled with lumpy flesh spilling out of bikinis. I never was one to admire the naked human body as an art form or as any kind of statement of freedom. I've always thought bikinis only go well with good bodies. I remembered the tourists in Bali, baring their lumpy flesh on the beach, and remembered how I thought they cluttered the beach and made it ugly.

I told them they should come to Bali and they promised to come. Back home they would spend their weekends on the beach, or on their suburban farms. They asked me what I did on weekends. They asked me whether, since Indonesia is filled with beautiful beaches, I would go to the beach every weekend. I laughed and told them we don't need a tan. I told them I'd go to the movies with my boyfriend, cook at home, or go out to cafes with my friends. I told them Jakartans don't spend a lot of time outdoors because it is too hot and there are mosquitoes. I laughed at how ridiculous it all sounded from where I was on that Mexican beach.

We sang telenovela songs and kept a lookout for tanned cuties. We got along genuinely marvelously. All I needed to do was to slather on a higher SPF.