Got myself a weave

25/02/2013

I never imagined myself with polyester hair, braided and piled on top of my head, but as I write this post it is exactly the case.

A few of the UK volunteer girls have been contemplating getting their hair braided, Shuruba, for a little while but never quite plucked up the courage. On Sunday, with the guidance of my host sister, three of us went to a salon and got our hair done.

We thought it would be a long, slow and painful process. To our surprise having our hair braided was not remotely painful – the girl that had been getting her hair done while we waited our turn seemed to be suffering greatly at the hands of the braider, perhaps she was trying to give us the jitters!

This is a snap of me mid-braid, the hairdresser must have been knackered after doing all three of us as we were there for well over 3 hours and she didn’t stop for a break once.

I had to buy two packs of faux hair for my style to be completed, I’ve got 14 braids twisting round my head and gathering in a very large bun at the lower right hand side of my head. I was convinced I would look like a completed tool with African style hair, what with not being, well, African. Actually, people seem rather taken back by my hair style, I have had strangers call me beautiful, and even ‘Habasha’ which is certainly an upgrade from ‘Ferenge’! I do feel I attract more attention now, not only am I white but I now have big hair woven onto my head! Quite literally, the hair dresser took a needle and thread and sewed on the fake bun to the rest of the braids to keep it in place. 

This pampering came to a total of 72Birr (£2.60) which includes the cost of two packs of hair and an hour of the hairdresser’s time. Apparently, this is expensive, with most styling being 15Birr or thereabouts and a cut being 30birr. My host family nearly passed out when I told them that my cut and colour in my UK salon equates to 1900Birr!

This style should last me at least a week, hopefully longer if I look after it well. Maintenance consists of using a little hair oil to keep it smooth; this also soothes some of the tension, and covering it when I sleep. Each night I will be sporting a plastic bag on my head, with a scarf tied over the top to protect all my hair. I will not need, or be able to, wash it while it is braided, so that is a bonus!

This might become a regular thing for the remainder of my weeks here, as they say ‘When in Rome….’.

Kx