Another first. There are so many things that you take for granted like going to the hairdresser. I thought I had made an appointment for 10 am today (Saturday) at a local hairdresser recommended by Fanny. I arrived on time but could see that there were only two hairdressers – one who did the colouring and shampooing and the other who did the cutting, brushing and blow-waving. There were four people already waiting in line for their turn to be washed and coloured and another person was having their hair cut. It didn’t look good. I was ushered to a seat and after about 20 minutes given a magazine.
After about 50 minutes Marie-Ange ushered me into another chair and we consulted about the colour. I had brought with me the colour intstructions from Rachel, my hairdresser in NZ but Marie-Ange wasn’t too sure about them. However, with the help of a colour chart we managed to come to an agreement on what was to happen.
Two hours later my colour was done! The best part was the washing of the hair. The chair I was in was a massage one – what a wonderful idea – not something I was used to in NZ. Just as well though as the washing of the hair took about half an hour! I had about 5 or 6 different preparations put on – some of which needed time to work.
Next it was into the cutting and styling chair.
You want your hair cut? Carmelo said to me in French.
Yes, I said. Just a little.
No, he said, you want a change – something with more style!
Ok, I said.
It was interesting to watch him work as he lifted several strands of hair and nonchalantly cut away. There was something artist-like in the way he worked. He even thought to ask if I would like a cup of coffee or tea. I had, as he pointed out, been there a long time. Yes, a cup of tea. Soon he was back with hot water and a selection of herbal teas for me to choose (I’ve given up on normal tea here as they only use UHT milk which tastes revolting). This revived my spirits somewhat. Then it was back to the cutting. Suddenly he stopped cutting and started drying my hair with an enormous round brush and a hair dryer. This took quite some time but then it was stop drying and start cutting again. Finally, he was finished. I have to admit it did look a lot better (less wild and frizzy).
Then came the moment of truth: time to pay. I zipped out my Belgian eftpos card but alas, they only took cash. Fortunately I had taken out some cash the day before from my NZ account to deposit into my Belgian account but the bank machine wasn,t working. I left the hairdressers with a much lighter head and wallet.
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