My Head Got Mowed!

Just when I thought I was doing pretty well in getting things done around our town of Mtwara and speaking enough Swahili to get by I come home with this (unintended) haircut.

I had gotten haircuts before on my own. I would tell the barber which number attachment to use on the electric clippers. He would trim the sides and back closely and take something off the top.

This time the barber &mdash who had not worked on me before — said, "all of it?" I said "yes" without thinking. He proceeded to mow down a wide swath right off the very top of my head and said, "like this?" At that point I had what you might call a "reverse mohawk" and realized that there was no choice but to get the shortest haircut of my life. I laughed and said, "keep going".

One of the other barbers in the shop quickly explained something to my guy about cutting non-African hair, a bit late but useful for the next time.

I have to say, this is easy to comb and takes very little shampoo to wash. Diane feels like she is married to a Buddhist monk. The Tanzanians all love it because almost all of the men maintain their hair just like this — millimeters long. -Earl