Week 17 – A Hair Raising Experience or How I Found my Ears and Other Laughable Moments

June11-June17

                                                                                                                                                                      "What soap is to the body, laughter is to the soul." (Yiddish Proverb)

I have not had a haircut since I left the states and as some pictures show, it is getting a bit shaggy-looking. Debra told me she had hair-cutting scissors so we were going to trim my hair. I had no problem with this because more often than not I cut my own hair. However, we were having trouble finding a time that worked for both of us. And as we all know I am working on being patient. So Friday of last week I left early for TAFCOM because I had to make copies of the malaria handout and the copy shop was closed the night before. I arrive around 8am and the storekeeper next door said the store should open anytime. So I wait...and wait. A man comes by and talks to the other storekeeper and I am informed that the copy shop won't be open today but the gentleman knows of a copy shop nearby. He offers to take me there and so off I go with a complete stranger who introduces himself as Zachariah.

On the way he shows me where he lives and introduces me to his wife and child. They operate a salon. I ask if they can cut muzungu hair and he says yes and that I should call him after work that afternoon and I can come by for a haircut. At this point I am wondering what I have gotten myself into but think it could be a fun experience and hair will always grow back. So that afternoon I call and he says to come to the shop and he will meet me there. I wander in and there are 5 ladies in a small shop. 2 are hairdressers and the others either customers or friends. I also notice that a couple of the ladies are drinking beer. The woman who was introduced as Zacharia’s wife does not understand English and I just say Zacharia’s name and sit down. Fortunately another woman arrives who does speak English and I explain I am there for a haircut. During our conversation, I am informed that Zacharia does live there but the woman is not his wife and cannot cut Muzungu hair. But they can call someone who does. This woman is also served a meal while I am there and offers to share her plate with me. In the meantime, 2 men show up who are obviously friends. One of the men wants to buy me a beer (it was after 5pm) but I politely refused. He was pretty fun and chatty. I had probably been waiting an hour and as it was approaching 6:30 I said I had to leave and was very sorry. Although this story sounds like I have no brains or common sense, the only real risk was to my hair. Also I am very safe about getting home before dark. The people in the salon were all very kind and understood that I needed to leave. I said I would try to come back on Monday.

As I was relating my adventure to Ibrah, he told me of a shop in Moshi at the Kibo Tower that cuts muzungu hair and gives a neck massage with the haircut. Kibo Tower was built in 2010 and is the most modern building in Moshi with some pretty upscale shops. I am starting to think a Charles Penzone Salon has arrived in Moshi. Monday after work I meander over to the Kibo Tower and find Lorenzo’s. As I enter I notice that it looks more professional than the small salons I have seen. They even have nice chairs instead of plastic and a real sink with running water for washing hair. I am seated and a gentleman comes over to cut my hair. I start to tell him what I would like done and discover he does not speak English. Another woman comes over and I can’t really tell how good her English is but she seems to understand me after about 3 explanations. I asked for about an inch trim, light layers and the sides angled a bit longer. Not quite what I got! Remember years ago when beauticians were scissor happy and no matter what you told them they always cut off more than you wanted. Well it is that era here. He seemed to have trouble getting the ends even so he just kept trimming. I did end up with an odd assortment of layers but he never quite understood the angle. He used a spray water bottle to wet my hair and I guess a face rinse was included because he always hit my face with the spray.

After the cut, a woman took me to another chair for hair washing. She massaged my head and put a hot cloth on my face. This was pretty nice. I was sitting up when she gave me a neck massage and although it was relaxing she was using an oil which she also massaged thru my hair. They do not use driers and it didn’t matter that my hair was wet because all the oil made it easy to shape into a style! You might be wondering what this experience cost me – a mere $6.33.

I love the silly things that make me laugh at myself. It is humbling and gives me a sense of great admiration for anyone who ventures into a foreign country. “The more you find out about the world, the more opportunities there are to laugh at it.” (Bill Nye)

Deborah and I were going into Moshi to run an errand and we took the daladala (transportation). We sat down and at the next stop another woman gets on and says something to me. I turned to Deborah to ask what she was saying and she laughed replying, “She is speaking English to you.” My mind is constantly in Swahili mode so I totally wasn’t listening for English words. The woman sat with us; she was from Uganda and her family moved to Tanzania about a year ago. She expressed how appalled she was with the way daladala’s packed people in like sardines. She said that in Uganda the people would be fined for having more than 3 to a seat. Much of the time, the daladala’s are Standing Room Only. The record for number of people I have counted on a daladala is still at 29.

I worked at home several days this week. I spent countless hours in front of the computer and got very little accomplished because of internet difficulties. It was a beautiful day and I had not spent any time outside for several days. So I decided to go for a run to work off my frustration. There is actually a very nice area with paved roads that is a short walk from where I live. So off I go. I have to cross a major, busy road and I am waiting to cross when two women walk up who are also crossing. We exchange greetings and are all watching for a safe distance between cars to cross. They both have purchased roasted corn from the corner vendor and one of the women asks if I would like some.  They also made sure that we all crossed the road together. After crossing and saying "Siku njema (have a nice day), I mentally chastised myself for choosing to get so frustrated and stressed over the internet and my self-imposed deadlines. Who really cares if they receive my blog on Tuesday or Weds? Who really cares if I can't respond to an email right away? These women with their simple gestures of kindness caused me to just stop the craziness in my head and feel the love!! It was just what I needed and the kindness didn't stop there…

As I was finishing my run I passed two men and one gave me a huge smile and applauded me. The very next person I passed was a woman who laughingly said "Congratulations”. The next person, an elderly gentleman, laughed and broke into a run to acknowledge me. WOW! What a great lesson in patience and humility. I felt renewed. “Laughter is inner jogging.”(Norman Cousins)

Allow me to continue to harp on my frustration regarding the internet connection. My signal strength would regularly drop to 20% not allowing me to load a new site or I would just be completely disconnected at random times. When I am motivated I am not one that likes to waste time so this was really aggravating. As it turns out, no one else in the house was having these problems. They might occasionally get disconnected but nothing like the degree to which it was occurring to me. Notice the use of the word “was” in the first sentence. Well I now have a new application for the phrase “Location, location, location”. Ibrah suggested I move my computer to see if that might make a difference. This is where I feel pretty stupid because we have a wireless connection. I moved my computer about 6 feet from its original position and feel like I walked thru a time warp and returned to the 21^st century. My bedroom furniture has been rearranged to accommodate my computer and although I still have the occasional problem I am ecstatic that I no longer have to put up with this annoyance.

These are the ways of Tanzania and I love it more with each passing day.

AND here are some pictures I find amusing...

The branch at the bottom center
is from the Amani or Peace tree.
It is given as a peace offering to
resolve a conflict between two people.
However, it is also used to point
the way to banana beer (as in this pic)

The children here love having their
pictures taken. They get even
more excited to see themselves after
the photo is taken.

I sized this picture a bit bigger because I wanted you to
see the writing on the building - Mr. Busy Pub Club
& Shop! This was along the trail to the waterfall
we visited last weekend. It just appeared out of nowhere.
Interestingly, there was a peace plant nearby.

To continue the alcohol theme,
this is a 50 ml plastic packet
(about 2 shots). They are commonly
seen on the ground. Not that
this is funny but I could not
believe I saw a guy driving
 a motorcycle with one of  these
 hanging out of his mouth.

One of my favorites. This woman sells shoes.
It seems to be the norm that they will carry just
one shoe on their head. I also love seeing women
carrying a bundle of hangars.

It is very common to see women carrying buckets and
 baskets on their heads and even trays of bananas.
This women who is also barefoot has a hoe and shovel
on her head and a machete in her hand.

Neighbor Kids Loving the Photo Op

 

Rahim in BIG Shoes.This kid is so goofy.
Spoiled rotten and with a face that cute
you can understand why!