DAY AT THE SALON

Maomi & Esther are absolutely intrigued with my hair.  It's not a secret that the texture is very different than theirs.  Every time I pass by them, the want to touch it.  Sunday morning at the church many of the women asked me if I went to a salon to have my hair done?  When I explained to them that I had only washed it, let it dry, and thus the "do", they couldn't believe it.  I was worried that it didn't look good because I had forgotten to put my blow dryer in the suitcase.  So after I washed my hair, I sat out on the balcony and let it dry.  Wow!  I am beginning to recognize how vain I must be.  There are so many areas in my life that God is dealing with me, and I believe this to be one of them.

Most of the young girls in this country have very, very short hair.  We have learned that as long as they are in school, they must keep their hair short.  I haven't gotten a "why fer & how come" to this requirement, so we just have to accept this as the gospel.  The girls don't seem to mind.  Even with the short hair, they are so beautiful.  Without the clothes and earrings, you wouldn't be able to tell them apart from the boys.

Think about the money that could be saved with this hairdo.  You wouldn't have to buy shampoo, hair gel, hair spray, and the trips to the beauty shop certainly would be limited.   Once the girls finish their schooling, they may, at that time begin to grow their hair out. 




I had promised Maomi and Esther that I would let them braid my hair one day.  Monday was the day, since we were staying home and enjoying our African experience.  After the dishes and clothes were washed, they brought a chair into the living room and instructed "Mama Janice, sit down, please".  I had gone too far now to back out, so I took a deep breath and took my seat.  They chattered between themselves laughing and laughing while they ran their fingers through my hair.  Do you know how you feel when you walk in a nail salon at home and the technicians are talking?  You just know they are talking about you, so you sit there and imagine what they could be saying.  That's the way we feel here.  When they want us to know what they are saying, they will speak in their broken English.  But other times, they break out in Swahili and we get dizzy trying to keep up with them.  We're learning to ask them what are they saying, we know you're talking about us.  Ha!  They just laugh, and tell us something, but who knows if it's really what they are saying.

Esther begins by combing my hair out.  She took her time doing this because she just enjoyed the feel of my hair.  Next thing you know, I feel this tug and squeeze so I knew the process had begun.  My mother used to braid my hair, but when she finished I either had one big braid in the back or one on each side of my head.  From the feel of things, I'm going to end up with a whole lot more braids than two.  All I can think about is "what in the world are my girls going to think about their Mama".
One thing I was convinced of was that my eyes were going to be slanted by the time she finished.  This was hurting like crazy!  But I was trying very hard to be tolerant of the pain because she was so proud of what
she was doing.  Before long, Maomi joined her.  Each girl had a side.  My hair is very thick, so I took this as meaning they realized with only one of them working, we were going to be here for a very long time.
After almost three hours, they finally gave a loud yell!  They've finished!  There are no mirrors in this house, so Eddie took a picture so I could see what they had done to me.  Eddie was very reassuring when he said "just remember, this is temporary".   The girls were so proud, and Goodluck was saying "Wow!, that looks good".   Then Moses walks in and tells me I look like a Masai woman.  Okay, this is getting worse by the minute! 

I could only feel my head, and from what I could tell, I have about 150 braids on my head.  Remembering that I am not going to be able to wash my hair until Friday, this might not be such a bad idea after all.  Now for moment of truth, bring me the camera.   If I throw up right now, would that hurt their feelings?  I just smiled and said "oooohhhhhhh" , the response you give when you see an ugly baby - you know that response, don't tell me you don't!   A member of the church stopped by and when he saw me he said "Mama Janice!  You look so gorgeous.  I like your hair!"  Okay, now it is obvious that the African definitions of words are different from our Webster definitions.  But I'm going to deal with this with a smile on my face, it's only temporary, my husband told me so!!!   And besides, now I will blend in with the crowd, I'm convinced of it!

Finished product - I feel like I fit in for sure now!