familiar escapades
Well here are a few interesting events that I always manage to get myself into. All Friday, I had been waiting for the generator to come on at 7 PM so I can finally get a haircut. At 7:20, I was shot down from my high horse. Since I arrived, I had been plugging in all my electrical toys directly into the outlet. That's because the laptop, camera, and phone can all handle voltages between 120 and 240. So the thought of a step-down converter completely slipped my mind though I did bring one along. I plugged in the clipper, and attached the #4 clip that's a notch higher than the one I normally use - I learned from my first mistake years ago. I now had a new lesson to learn. I began cutting my hair from the right side of my head and as I was using #4 the difference wasn't very noticable. When I got to the middle of my head, the clipper burnt out from high voltage. So now I have the hair on half of my head trimmed and the other half in a nice bush that it had grown out to be. The only way to fix it is to visit a barber, and that would have to wait till the next day as all the barbers that own clippers are located in Freetown.Bro Kelvin and I boarded a tightly packed poda-poda to Freetown. There were twenty-four people in this vehicle seated pressed together. I, always having the best luck was glued next to a lady carrying dried fish exposed in a wicker basket. The first three people to be let off were short 2 blocks (Le200. One block equals Le100). The conductor forced the driver to drive two miles further from their destination, and drop them off there as punishment. The lady with the fish however, stayed on for most of the ride into town.
Once in town, it took us several minutes of going around in circles to find a barber who could use a clipper. Not many barbers here use clippers. A normal haircut is usually undertaken with a single blade held against a comb. That works for African hairtype but not on my kind of hair. We finally found one on Wilberforce street. It was a little shack on the side of the road. There were posters of Bollywood films (more on this later) affixed to the walls alongside pictures of Ashanti, Nelly, and a painting of Tupac. The generator had to be turned on to supply power. This took some time as it was shoddy. He had no idea what #3 or #2 clips meant. So he picked up #2 not knowing what it was and began very shyly trimming my hair in small strokes. He trimmed the sides and the back in a line and left me looking like a monk. After trying to explain to him what I wanted, he looked to Bro. Kelvin for further explaination. The height adjustment lever on the clipper was loose and he kept using a flat head screwdriver to screw in the Phillips head screw. After I saw him struggle for a bit, I offered the Phillips driver from my Swiss Army knife. While he was contently adjusting the screw, the generator went off from lack of fuel. He did not have any fuel on hand and had to go out to buy fuel. He returned fifteen minutes later, refuelled, and continued cutting in small strokes. I promptly got tired of this and told him to just shave it all off. My haircuts take no more than ten minutes and here it was taking close to two hours. He finally got on with it as the instructions were now easy. He gave me a #2 cut all over, and #1 on the sides and the back. By now, he was a bit sorry for all the inconvenience, and was trying to impress. He went on shaping up my beard and sideburns though I told him it wasn't necessary and that I was going to shave when I got home. He did a fairly good job. I thought I looked like David Beckham. Well OK, maybe not. He gave me nice long sideburns, and lined up the mustache, and he was pretty impressed with his artistic talents. I had a feeling that this was the first time he got to experiment on hair like mine. The two hour make-over, or so it seemed, cost Le5000. I was impressed - though there are a few strands longer than others.
Now for the Indian films; Bollywood films are very popular here among the locals. Only just a few years ago did the Nigerian film industry storm the market here. Until then, people here loved and often watched Bollywood films. I came across many locals who knew Hindi words. Walking around Freetown, the market in Waterloo, or even in Tombo, it is not uncommon to hear Hindi music being played loudly on the speakers of music vendors. Also, interesting is that "movie theaters" - small bamboo shacks or a small room that's part of a larger building, with a T.V. in front of the room and seating to accomodate anywhere from 25 to 35 people, place a speaker outside so that the sounds and music can be heard by passers-by. On Thursday, BBC aired an interview with A.R. Rahman, the legendry composer for Bollywood films, and Asha Bhosle, the voice behind much of the popular Bollywood soundtracks. Plastered on walls around town, you will see posters advertising Bollywood movies. This is quite an interesting country, and as I have said before, the people here are absolutely charming. There is yet much to see and learn as I have not yet left the tiny peninsula.
Happy Birthday Linda & Nisha!
posted by bthomas24 @ 12:11 AM
2 Comments:
i just burst out laughing about your hair-escapade, and now everyone at work is staring at me !!!
why didn't you post a picture of your half-and-half hair cut ??
david beckham??? i think not, benjamin :-)
Pretty funny...and you thought you looked like Beckham...hahahhahahh...u did brighten my day with that story about your hair cut
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