one day after I returned from class they surrounded me and began jabbering in swahili. I figured out when I arrived in shirazi that nodding and saying "sawa" which means "okay" was generally a good policy. sure it meant I got dressed up like a clown and taken on the longest, hottest walks of my life, but hey, it hadn't led me too far astray. so I nodded and said "sawa sawa" and was immediately plopped down on what I'm convinced was the hardest patch of dirt in the village .... for the next four hours.
they grabbed my feet and hands and began drawing what can only be described as honeycomb pyramids all over them. then they pulled out the henna and began painting the honeycombs, the bottoms of my feet, my toenails, and fingernails... after three hours the henna had dried and I thought my ordeal was nearing its end. oh no! then they whipped out the black hair dye. PERMANENT black hair dye. the box had a happy looking asian couple on the front, clearly elated about their glossy black locks. I was less elated.
they covered the nice, brown, not permanent henna with black hair dye. so I had PERMANENT black honeycombs on my feet and hands. my toenails and fingernails were black. I confess it was not my best look.
I scrubbed solidly for 3 weeks, in the salt water, in the sand, in the shower, with soap, without soap, when I was sweaty, when I wasn't. after awhile the black began to fade and I'm elated to say I am now honeycomb free. the black has faded from my finger and toenails which now have an orange (from the henna) and black marbled look. they look like their all going to fall off. real pretty.
the most unfortunate realization I've had is that I have a fine layer of hair on my hands, fingers, feet and toes which is all now JET BLACK. awesome.
there's still hope- maybe the sun will bleach the dyed part! my friend hannah was in dakar, senegal and decided to get her hair trimmed, so she went to what she thought was a salon. she was promptly put in a chair, and the barber promptly chopped off ALL of her beautiful red hair into a fairly manly style. then, the worst: they rubbed manly oils into her scalp. she didn't tell us this story until several weeks later, either. i'm beginning to think that "beauty" mishaps are a traveler's fate.
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