30dh Haircut

A little known fact about me… I went to the same hairdresser for 16 years of my life. When I finally switched to someone new I felt like I was cheating on her. Having switched yet again 2 years ago due to financial reasons, I have been faithfully seeing only one lady. Despite the previous changes, I am an incredibly loyal customer, mainly because I trust very few people with my hair (bad haircut in 9th grade, devastating!) Anyways, I went to see her before I left for my global adventure, thinking that if I timed it right I could probably make it seven months before absolutely needing another trim again. However, after a few weeks in Morocco, I knew that I wasn’t going to make it.  

A bit nervous about the prospect of getting my hair cut in a country where I could barely order bread, I hummed and hawed about the idea for nearly 2 months. The decision process extended even further after hearing a friend’s hair cut horror story. I finally came to the conclusion that it would be better to get it done in Morocco than Uganda.  

In what ended up being a spontaneous event, I went to a coiffure (salon) with a Moroccan girl to get it trimmed. Talking to the staff, she set it up so that the most experienced stylist would cut my hair. Then came the wait, the one that lasted for ages and made me question not only my decision, but also if it was even going to happen. When the time finally came I was called into the room and plopped into chair, getting attacked by a spray bottle in the process. Definitely not used to the texture of my hair, it was pulled and yanked quite a bit before she was finally satisfied and the main stylist came over. Confirming once again what I wanted done (in English, thankfully!) we seemed to be in agreement over what I wanted.  

Helplessly watching as giant chunks of my hair hit the floor I kept reminding myself that ‘hair grows’ and this was yet another experience to add to my adventures overseas. Nervous the entire time, he finally finished and then sent in someone else to blow dry my hair. Expecting it to be blown and then brushed out, I just went will the flow, in retrospect that might not have been the best idea. In what officially confirmed the difference in hair textures between me and the typical Moroccan, my hair was eventually transformed into a dry, but thoroughly tangled mess. Brushing out only the front to make it look nice, he left the rest and said “all finished”.
A bit poofy for my taste, I smoothed it down and surveyed the work. It actually turned out fantastically well and despite the shock of seeing large sections fall to the floor, it was still very long and layered. Beautiful!

The best part of it all probably came with the bill. Only 30dh, roughly $4.15 for a haircut! I could certainly get used to this!