Sometimes it's the little things..

..that make me realize how much I have to learn. On a whim yesterday my new roommate and I decided to grab some ice cream and get our hair cut. Random combination I know, but it was time for some change. We tried out a different (and better) ice cream place than usual and headed to a place she knew of for our hair. It was around 8pm, but they do things later here. After roughly communicating that I wanted my hair cut and I didn't have a lot of money, I jumped into the chair to get it washed an start the process. A guy with bleached faux-hawk hair who looked close to my age was my hairdresser for the evening. Funny thing about guy hair-dressers: they are no less men even when taking care of your hair. Compared to my place back home, where my head is massaged to the point where I am smiling and want to fall asleep..this was more of a sports deep tissue massage. As I strained with a half-grimace and he pulsated his fingers across my scalp I couldn't help but worry a bit about what I'd gotten myself into. Being that my roommate is from Ecuador I ran to her after being released from the sink and had her translate my short version of the cut I wanted: some layers, kinda side bangs, and I guess whatever he thinks looks good. So there I sit, and he starts snipping. It felt like an eternity and as he slid his fingers down a large chunk of hair, stopped short, and CHOP! much earlier than I expected, I swallowed my stomach. I think he could tell I was mentally preparing myself for the baseball hats and scarves that I would need to cover the poof that was being created because he just smiled and did a stair like motion to show it was for layers. It didn’t help much but I smiled, nodded, and told him everything was good. Well, after the cut, it was time to dry. I honestly couldn't tell much difference in the length despite the piles of hair at my feet, so I was feeling a bit more confident. I basically closed my eyes for the next 40 minutes as he pulled and super-heated my head. Listo! he said as he held up a mirror and to my incredible surprise, my hair was looking pretty good! A ton of layers, just like every other girl in this country, mostly straight with some curl at the bottom, and best of all - not too short! I was calm again, happy, and best of all - not broke. It only cost me 55pesos for wash, cut, blow & style...less than $15! So I have now tried some of the best tiramisu ice cream in Palermo, and am sporting a new, and so far OK, local haircut. Next time though, I might try to brush up on my salon vocabulary ;)