The Haircut

So, how do you communicate to someone that you want your hair cut without using words? I was lucky enough to find that out today.

Maeli and I strolled up to the front desk of the Pousada de Mong-Ha (fancy phrase for our hotel). I asked the clerk how much it usually costs to get a haircut. He said that if I went to an expensive salon it should run about 150 Patacas (19USD) but if I went somewhere cheap I could spend around 60 Patacas (7.50USD). I didn’t have 150 Patacas with me because I really didn’t want to spend that much on a haircut. I left the front desk with a recommendation for a “nice” salon and about 100 Patacas in my pocket.

We didn’t even look for the “nice” salon. A few days ago I noticed some cheap looking salons behind our hotel. I walked up to one and the door had some Chinese characters on it. What the hay! We walked in and it wasn’t busy at all.

A chinese man approached us with a look like, “Are you lost?” Of course not, Mister. We’re the crazy foreigners who come to the cheap Chinese place to get our hair cut to make your day just a little more interesting.

So I motioned that Maeli needed her bangs cut and I needed my hair trimmed. He seemed fine with that request and ushered us to some seats. He pulled out a pink booster seat for Maeli and decided that she would be first. I was hoping that he would do my hair first so that Maeli could get used to the whole idea of a strange man cutting Mommy’s hair. But, no … we were just going to dive in.

This Chinese man was probably in his late thirties but he was going for the early twenties look with faded tight jeans and cool sweater with English words scrambled all over. He had the hair and lips of Mac Jagger and the face of Johnny Depp … I mean the Chinese version of Johnny Depp. To top it off he had a silver stud in his left ear.

So Mac Jagger put a cape on Maeli and combed her hair all pretty. Then he crouched down so he could chop off a straight line of hair and Maeli started to cry. “Who is this spiky hair guy in my face with scissors???”

Like most Chinese, this guy was fast on his feet. He swung around behind Maeli and switched from the regular sheers to the thinning sheers. In about 4 minutes, he successfully cut her bangs without any more crying. She now has a nice feathered look in the front.

My turn! I gave Maeli some crackers and a book and then the cape was around my neck. He took a hair dryer and comb and started styling the back of my already dry hair. At home, Aunt Linda always wet and then divided my hair into neat sections. I was going to say something but I took the Aaron approach and let the situation ride out.

After my hair was combed under, The Johnny Depp side to this guy started to emerge. He cut the back of my hair like Edward Scissorhands. Fast snipping and erratic combing were all I could see in the mirror. Johnny Depp must have barely beat this guy for the role. I was beginning to feel like one of those lawn bushes.

When all was said and done, not a lick of English was spoken during the whole event. He only charged 45 Patacas for my cut and 20 Patacas for Maeli. I gave him 5 Patacas extra for the entertainment.