I had been enrolled in private Catholic schools since I was in first grade. So it was no big surprise when my parents sent me to an all girls Catholic high school. My freshman year I enrolled in Spanish class. My school was planning a trip to Spain the summer between my freshman and sophomore years. I new I could convince my parents to let me go, but I had no idea I would be coming home with a shiny new piece of metal in my navel.
At A Glance Author piercedToBeMD Contact neongreenn@aol.com When Five years ago Location Madrid, Spain Sure enough, my mom and dad said I could go. I was the youngest of 30 girls from an all girls Catholic high school on our way to Spain. I remember overhearing a few of the older girls on the plane ride whispering about possibly getting their belly buttons pierced or getting a tattoo. I remember leaning over to my friend and saying "I would never do anything like that." I didn't realize what sort of freedom a 14 year old could have in Spain until I got there.
My friend and I were walking around the plaza in Madrid when one of the other girls with our group ran over to us. She had already gotten her belly button pierced and a tattoo! By the time our third day there came around, five girls had already gotten their belly buttons pierced. Later that day, we had about 3 hours to roam around the streets. I new this would be a great chance for me to find a piercing shop.
We walked into this little piercing shop. No one there spoke great English and I didn't speak great Spanish. So I walked up to the counter and pointed at my belly button. The girl nodded and took me into the back. I laid down on the table as she prepared all of her equipment. By this time in my life, I only had one set of ear lobe piercings. I didn't know much about any other types of piercings but I thought everything looked safe and sterile.
First, she cleaned the area of my navel. Then she secured the clamp on, which was the most painful part of the whole experience. I closed my eyes and gripped the arm of the chair and she put the needle through. It was not as bad as I had expected. She inserted the barbell with a white gem that I picked out. I loved it! But I knew my parents would hate it.
The woman gave me their card. She pointed to a couple of words on the card and said "La Pharmacia" and then pointed to something else on the card and said "Tres". For those of you who don't know much Spanish, I actually consider myself one of those people, she generally told me to go to the pharmacy there and pick up something to clean my ring with three times a day.
Not knowing exactly what I was looking for, I walked into "la pharmacia" and picked up my shirt and pointed to my navel. The man behind the counter nodded, ran into the back, and brought me what they said I needed. I don't remember exactly what it was or what it was called, but it was a brown fluid that is like the same thing they use for disinfecting an area for surgery. It stained my tummy a horrible color brown.
I waited 2 days to call my parents from Spain to inform them of what I had done. This way, I figured it would give them time to cool down about it before I got home in a week. Luckily, I caught them while they were at a 4th of July party. My mother, who had had a few drinks in her by the time I called, said "Oh that's nice, sweetie. Your father is going to kill you." That is when she handed him the phone. Of course he was not happy at all: not with me and especially not with the all girls Catholic school. He threatened to call the principal of my school and yell at her but after a little bit of begging and pleading, he did not.
I told my parents that if they were really that upset and they didn't want me to have a belly button ring, I would take it out. They told me not to take it out because they thought it would get infected otherwise, which was fine by me.
I nursed my piercing as best as I could while in Spain. I couldn't wait to get home and get something better to clean it with. Again, at the time I knew nothing about piercings and I think I went to Claire's and got their ear cleaning solution to clean it with. Remember, I was only 14 and had no idea what I was doing then! My belly button healed just fine and it still looks great.
What my parents later found out was that my navel piercing was the beginning of, what my parents still dislike to this day, my great love for piercings and tattoos.