Rastafarian Love

Salut mes amis! So after a week of getting back into the swing of things on campus I am feeling back in the groove of Sénégal life. With that comes the realization that in the face of writing a blog about my experiences with Katie here, I get a little overwhelmed. Thus, I made the executive decision to "skip" over that period of time and try to get back on track. I do promise however, that when I return to the States I will have a show-and-tell session solely on those three weeks of my life. I took a ton of pictures and had so much happen, that it would be more worth it to describe in person.

Yesterday I finally did it. After talking about getting "tressed" ever since my friend Annie did it, I went to the coiffure. 5 hours later I stepped out of the tiny little hairdressers room with a headful of long blond braids and a totally new look. (I'll put up a picture soon) Going to the coiffure is definitely a Senegalese cultural experience. Because black people in general usually don't have a lot of hair, the women get fake hair put in in all sorts of styles. You can get braids, wigs, hair that is braided into your hair but then looks like real hair. Curly hair, fancy updos, you name it, I've probably seen it. Thus the process of going to a coiffure is part of normal "things to do" from anywhere between once a month to once every 2 months. So, in the morning I went into town to get the hair. I got two packets of this blond/caramel colored hair. Gotta have more cause of my huge mane. It was one of two colors that the hair place had for white people. Awesomely enough it was pretty much the exact color of my real hair. The hair itself looks kind of like doll hair, but is actually pretty close to the texture of real hair; completely fake though. For each packet it was about $3. Sweet. So at 4:00 yesterday I showed up at the "salon" and two ladies went to town. I sat on a rug on the floor and divided off small sections of the hair and handed it to the "head coiffure" as she braided the fake stuff into my real hair. I did a little reading for part of the time and also watched the football game on TV (it's the African Cup!). During the 5 hours I probably got up 3 times, so you can imagine how sore I felt when I finally finished. I think my butt is finally forgiving me just now.

The final look is crazy. I must say I look pretty Senegalese now, but definitely in a more Rastafarian mode than I would have predicted. I am quite pleased by how they turned out and am excited to see how long I can keep them in for. Best part? I don't have to do anything to them, no washing, no hairstyling. No upkeep. That rules! I'm already feelin the love. Bet you can't wait to see them...Don't worry you will all soon see.

Until then, keep it real. Jamm.