Fades of Our Lives

After over a month of letting my hair grow to intolerable proportions, I finally got my first haircut in South Africa. Based on the demographics of South Africa, I was miffed by how difficult it was to find a good barber shop. I've actually come across several over the past couple of weeks, but none of them had "the poster" in them (Note: "the poster" refers to the styling guide found in most black barber shops. See below).

Yesterday, I finally found a respectable establishment. Amanda and I walked in, and I was quickly offered a chair. Now I've been wearing the same hair style since the 7th grade. Shadow fade, low sideburns. It's low maintenance, and the waves come in with only a little bit of brushing. I wasn't sure that the barber would know what I was talking about, but I figured that could easily point to "the poster". Unfortunately, the poster was near the door of the shop, which was way out of pointing distance. Nervously, I started looking at the pictures of numerous American music stars that covered nearly every inch of wall space. When the barber would ask what I wanted, I'd simply say "Make it look like 50 Cent's hair". But by the time he asked me, I was worried sick that he'd wanna shave "G-Unit" into the back of my head. All I could get out was "make it low on the top, and fade it on the side.

When he started cutting, I noticed that he was taking off much more hair than I expected. But it was too late by then, so I just went with it. When he was done, I was sportin' the lowest haircut I've had in over two decades. Imagine that. I walked in ready to look like Fitty, and I walked out looking like Seal. I sang "Kiss From a Rose" around the house for the rest of the night.

All in all, I was pleased with my first haircut experience in South Africa. There was only one thing that truly troubled me. All of my barber shop trips back home involve watching ESPN, music videos, or movies that'll soon be released in theatres. But this guy was watching "Days of Our Lives". And he was really into it too! He was telling me how Stefano was involved with this lady, who was engaged to this other guy. I was thinking the whole time "don't you have SportsCenter here?!?!"

Staying true to my schedule, I'll be in for another haircut in two weeks. I wonder what Stefano will be up to then?