Why Girls Wear Tight Pants

It is the fashion here to wear fairly skin tight jeans, regardless of one's size (granted, most are quite small here).  But contrary to first impressions, I assert that the tight jeans are not an attention-seeking clothing option.  Instead, they are a necessity.

Personally, I have three loose jeans and one pair of "tight" jeans.  On a recent day I visited my friend Anita in Antigua.  She came and picked me up via camineta so we could travel together, me being the unlearned traveler. 

Now, the caminetas (aka, chicken buses) have quite the reputation.  Don't ride them, people say.  Keep your belongings close to you--watch out for pickpockets.  Put your cell phone in your front pocket.  Pray the whole way you're riding (that's my thought).

All very good advice.  And it should be heeded, especially when caminetas are the sole means of transportation.  However, on this sunny day (that like most schizophrenic days in Guatemala, turned rainy and dropped ten degrees), losing money was not my primary concern.  Three people sat in each seat of the once-U.S.-school bus.  The only available seats?  In the back.  Let me tell you, squeezing through all of those people--it's a lot like going through Fat Man's Bane in Berea. 

And then I quickly realized what concerned me most.  It wasn't being pick pocketed.  It wasn't even dropping my cell phone, though it did cross my mind.  Rather, I became very afraid that I would lose my pants. 

Imagine that, the only gringa on the bus mooning everyone.  Not a pretty sight.

Thus, I have learned that girls wear tight pants not because they are trying to be sexy, but solely for modesty's sake.

Hence, when I know I'm going to ride the camineta, I choose to wear my tight pants.  Or a belt.