My Brand New Haircut!

So I won’t be making a youtube video about it…and it might not make it onto the cover of vogue…but today I got a brand new haircut!

You see…the plan was for me to get a haircut BEFORE going to Africa. Something simple, that would be easy to wash and easy to maintain. We all know that showering is such a burden to me, that showing with a bucket just seems impossible. But then before I left, I got too distracted with going away parties and making myself look like a fool in EMS and Costco, that I just didn’t have the time to get a haircut.

So off to Rwanda I went with my long, split endy, unwashed hair, un-highlighted, somewhat permed hair.

I am proud to report that I showered more times in my first week in Rwanda than I did during the average week during Senior Spring. But I was still able to recognize that it would become a burden in the future, when I was not so energetic about showering and running and getting dressed and waking up early. So I jumped at the opportunity when Peace Corps Jenny appeared, professional hair clippers in hand, ready to cut Lauren’s (Dartmouth ’08) hair.

The five Peace Corps girls visiting Musanze for the weekend (they got it off for the election...apparently only CCHIPs has muzungu work days. I think a vacation might have helped us better appreciate the Rwandan culture) had set up a salon on our front porch by the time I got back from my run. (In my bitterness that it was a muzungu only work day, I left early to go for a run. It was a bad run…I went to the track to do a sprint workout and got those black dot things that happen before you pass out. Damned altitude.) The idea of a haircut was a very exciting prospect…so I quickly showered (hot water today!) and ran out for my place in line.

After the usual array of questions – Where do you part your hair? I don’t know. / How long do you want it? Long enough. – I shut my eyes and let her go for it. As happens during every hair cut, the snips of hair that fell to the ground looked a little longer than I was expecting, and she asked me awkward questions about my love life (nonexistent. Same with hers.). It lacked in the blow drying at the end that makes any crappy hair cut look amazing, but as I explained to her…I’m pretty enough without it.

Overall, I think it was very successful! As I explained to Jenny (not Fisher), it was definitely worth more than a $15 supercuts cut. As she explained to me, she was impressed I let a rando cut my hair when I was only a week into Rwanda. And then we agreed on the payment of one margarita to come at a later date.

Since I don’t have a camera, I can’t show you my brand new haircut…but this picture from 6^th form kind of captures the new length and style (that’s right – she styled it too!).

My brand new haircut -- In 6th form.