My packing list of clothes for Honduras will have to be pretty minimal. I am thinking along the lines of:

jeans
t-shirts
skirt
sweatshirt
rain jacket
socks
running shoes
hiking boots
underwear
swimming suit
PROM DRESS

I include this last item because I feel fabulous, confident, and terribly creative in my dress. It’s dazzlingly red, enormously pouffy, and embroidered with shiny leaves and beaded flowers. I spent FAR too much money on it my senior year in high school, so although I don’t expect/would never use dry cleaning in Honduras, I want a reason to justify bringing this dress.

Perhaps it can act as an icebreaker when I go out to interview borrowers. Wearing this dress is, basically, like wearing my personality. So the loan recipients I will be looking to speak to will be able to determine right away whether they want to talk to me. Not to mention the intricate techniques behind the hand-stitched floral designs, which may be a point of discussion with someone who owns a sewing or weaving business. Should the loan officer and myself get stranded at any point during our journey, as long as there isn’t too much rain, the five-layered skirt makes an adequate tent. And the flare-bright fabric offers an easy-to-spot distress signal.

If there are no curtains in the window of my apartment, and I’m looking for privacy, I can hang the dress in front of the glass. If I get invited to an office party with the Prisma staff, I will be ready to look my best. If my coworkers decide they don’t like me and I become lonely in Tegucigalpa, I can prop the dress up in the corner of the room (it practically stands on its own), and pretend it’s a friend to chat with. When I’m having writer’s block or when I’m on the edge of a breakthrough about how microfinance can change the world, I can don the dress and dance around to wiggle out the epiphanies.

Unfortunately, if I plan on taking the other items on my list, this particular treasure will probably not fit into my backpack …