The story of how I came to be married, engaged, just off the fricken market to you, thanks, Buddy:

SHIT! disclaimer: I am not really engaged, married or otherwise. I guess in my rush to express my exasperation I may not have noted that.

Since the first day in the car with Pulane, in which I exclaimed (pinch hit) that I was engaged (sometimes I say married, although when I refer to Jack, it’s as my boyfriend, which puts a whole new spin on the confusion for everyone) I have since produced a simple silver ring to wear on my ring finger, which is inscribed with the words “Fear Not” and is a bit funny to me as it was given to me by a TG man at the clinic I used to work at, after I admired his. I wear it with the words facing in, so that when I am about to put my face into my hands to cry about this or that, I realize that even if I’m crying I shouldn’t be fricken SCARED!!!!! It suffices as a wedding band. Many PCV’s do this. I get several offers to “know me,” marry me, sleep with me, come check on me ect, throughout the day, every day. On good days it is simply verbal, but it can also entail some grabbing, which gets really old. It happens to most PCV’s here, men and women and is thus more annoying than flattering. Wearing a ring doesn’t stop it, but at least suggests a bit more seriousness in my constant rejection of these offers. It’s very claustrophobic to be in a situation in which you cannot just be who you are, and indeed to be truthful can occasionally be dangerous, and this has manifested in ways that are sort of unexpected to me, but I am trying to roll with the punches. Lying doesn’t sit well, and the whole concept of wearing a ring as a symbol for something so sacred and lying about it is very hard. The plan from here on out is to become friends with the young men that work at my clinic, and to make them understand that it is their duty to keep me safe and that I am to be respected. It makes me so much more appreciative of all the liberties we take for granted every day in the US, and makes me want to strive that much more to teach about gender equality in the place that I’m at.