62. Underwear

Most Mozambican women wash their underwear every day as a part of their normal shower routine.  In the smallest bits of left-over bathwater, they will soap up and rinse the dirty underwear, then sneak it inside and hang it discreetly in a private back room.

When it comes to washing underwear in Mozambique, there are two rules to remember:

1. Panties are never, ever, EVER to be dried outside or in a public space
2. They should never be washed by others.  

I follow both of these rules diligently, but, personally, I am not regimented enough to remember to wash my underwear every single day.  I operate on a 16-day cycle, instead.

Why a 16-day cycle, you might choose to ask, and not a 15- or 17-day cycle?  

Because I have exactly 16 pairs of underwear with me in Mozambique.  

And I've hand-washed each pair exactly 45.625 times over the past two years.