Hair Cut

The thing I dislike about having hair on my head is getting it cut.  I know that long hair is not for me (too hot).  But short hair really doesn’t do much for my look.  I’m lazy when it comes to “fixin”, so it has to be a simple “do” that I can just brush out and go.  So where does that leave a hairdresser???  With a difficult task.  Now let’s make it a little more complex………

The last mission team was dedicated to the moms and grandmothers of the children at Point of Hope.  Part of their mission was to give hair cuts to those who wanted one.  I talked with Sandy, the hairdresser in attendance, about getting mine cut and doing a different style.  I never really know what style looks good with the shape of my face, so I asked her for advice.  She said that if she had time, she’d love to cut me.  Ok.  So when it was my turn, we talked a little more about what I’d like.  I told her I really didn’t know and she suggested an asymmetrical shape.  What???  For those of you who know me (analytical, balanced, orderly, linear, OCD type), asymmetrical is NOT a part of my life.  I want things very balanced and even.  But, I was willing to let her do it.  So I closed my eyes and she began cutting (she assured me that if I didn’t like it, we could make it balance).  As I sat there with my eyes closed, I pictured what the final outcome would look like.  Not knowing for sure, I didn’t want to make any judgments until I saw the final product, but my visual was not what I wanted.  So, as I sit there blind, the folks around me kept telling me how cute it is and how much they like it.  Ok, I’m sure anything Sandy was doing with my hair was much better than what it was before she began.  But I’m still apprehensive.  So 20 minutes later, she hands me a mirror and says to open my eyes.  Oh my gosh!!!  Asymmetrical means that one side is chin length and the other is ear lobe length.  One side brushes back over my ear and the other curls under my chin.  This is SO not me!!!  It’s not that I hated it, it was just SO different from what I would ever try.  Everyone else loved it, so I decided that I would let it go for a while and see if it “grew” on me.  Besides, Sandy would be around the rest of the week in case I decided to change the look.  It was most of the day before I saw Dennis – I was afraid of what he would say, and it was time for our quilting class to start.  All the ladies seemed to like the new look, but I still wasn’t sure.  Dennis finally came in to my classroom after lunch and said he loved it.  Great, now do I?  Not really, but still need to wear it for a while.

Ok, now it’s 5 weeks later and I need a trim.  Let’s complicate this even more by adding a new hairdresser……….one who doesn’t speak any English………..and my Romanian doesn’t include anything about hair cutting…………and my hair is no longer the exact shape that it was when it was first cut.  So how does one find a new hairdresser in a foreign country?  So I walked down the street in front of the apartment and began looking at shops.  The first one I passed was a small place with 2 ladies inside.  The first lady I saw had red hair…I’m not talking Lucille Ball red hair, but more like Woody Woodpecker red!  Not only that color red, but it was “poofed” up in the front and braided in the back.  Ok, that’s different (wait, so is my hair……no, not that different).  Keep walking.  Then I remembered the lady at the toy store who spoke a little English.  I stopped by her place of business and asked her if she could recommend someone.  Yes, she said.  She and family go to this little place just up the road.  It was a blue shop with flowers outside.  I asked if there was a lady there with red hair.  That’s the one.  Oh no.  She calls Tunde (the hairdresser) to see if she can cut me today, then tells me to come in at 2:30.  Ok.  So back to the apartment I go to wait for 2:30.  This should be very interesting.

2:15 comes around and I head out the door.  I take along my trusty English/Romanian dictionary, just in case.  When I walk in the door, she hands me a couple of books to look for a hairstyle.  I thumb through the pages looking at really cute cuts and wishing any of them would look good on my face.  Fortunately for me, the lady that Tunde (the new hairdresser) just finished cutting, speaks some English.  So she hangs around for a while to help with translation.  Once the cutting gets into full swing, my translator leaves and I’m on my own.  As I watch Tunde cut, I realize that she just cut too short on my short side.  Now what???  Not much you can do now, but let her finish.  When it was all said and done, I walked away with my hair cut.  The really good part of the whole ordeal was the cost – 17 lei (about $5).  So here I am with another new cut and time where I can learn to “like” it.  As I always told Charlotte (my hairdresser in Kingsland), it will always grow out.