So the other day, I went to the beach. Which is not something
I do often here in the Gambia despite the lovely beaches only a few miles away.
And it isn’t that I didn’t put sunscreen on…because I did…sort of. But when you
are as lacking in melanin as I am, a little sunscreen, haphazardly applied,
isn’t going to cut it. Now I am aware of the dangers of sun damage. People of
Irish descent are educated very young about the need to apply sunscreen or
suffer the consequences. And I have been good! Really, I have. I haven’t had a
really bad burn since I was a little kid. Well, I just went and broke my
record. And spent a lot of time educating Gambians about sunburns and blister
burns and yes, that hurts don’t touch me. While I knew my back hurt like crazy,
I only have a small mirror and not a good source of light, so I really couldn’t
tell just how bad it was. But when a student asked me what all the strange
white dots were on my back and I realized I wasn’t just badly sunburned, but I
had a very lovely blister burn. Well, that explains the intense pain associated
with laying on my back, wearing clothes, letting my hair touch my back,
showering…you know everything. And it also explains the reason so many Gambians
were apologizing to me when they get a look at my back. Which is strange. It
isn’t really their fault. I just wasn’t made to be exposed to the sun in the
Gambia. But if any good could come from this burn (and I can laugh about it now
because it is almost done peeling…for the third time), then it would be that at
least 150 Gambians (I have a lot of students) now know that sunburns exist,
that they hurt (like the devil), and that they are lucky they were born with
melanin.
Which leads me to the topic of skin lightening. No, not for
me! There isn’t much room for me to get lighter, although I am sporting a
pretty nice tan thanks to 3 months in Africa. But African woman and their
desire to have lighter skin. And some men too although that is less common. And
really, it is not just Africa since I saw many, many commercials and products
for skin lightening in India too. Women all over the world seem to wish for
different colored skin. If you are born pale, you want a tan. If you are born
dark, you want to be lighter. So some people bake in the sun, increasing their
risk for skin cancer, while others apply caustic chemicals to their skin to
become lighter which can lead to a number of nasty skin disorders. I like to
think that I am pretty happy with my skin color. I don’t bother to go tanning
and I don’t go in for the spray tans. But then I get a horrible sun
burn/blister burn and I do find myself wishing I could have been born with
darker skin and the luxury of not needing to wear sunscreen every time I want
to spend more than 30 minutes in the sun. Oh well, that is life.