Auuhhh Putian!!!

When you've been waiting in a conservative Muslim state duing Ramadan for almost two weeks, you start to do some crazy things. For instance 2 nights ago I decided, what the hell, I'll go get a mohawk. I already have painted nails so why not go all out. I was very bored, so off I went to the barber shop. I was hoping that I would be able to do the cutting. This is because I've only trusted cutting my hair to myself and a select few over the last 5 years, and the thought of trying to describe a mohawk to a barber in Pakistan seemed like begging for disaster.

When I found a place that cut hair I walked in and took a seat. When I was called up, it was quickly made clear that the owner of the shop would cut my hair and I had nothing to worry about. So, I caved quickly and gave up on the idea of cutting my hair myself. There was a man who spoke both Uurdu and English willing to translate exactly what I wanted, which was reassuring. So I drew some pictures and explained no less than three times what I wanted making sure that the translater understood. As I turned my head to the side and the haircut began, I realized the barber had just started shaving my head bald. I pulled back and asked him to stop which caused him to look at me puzzled and say, "this short?". I sighed and said well, "I guess its too late now". So he proceeded to shave half my head bald, which was fine, but not exactly what I had wanted. As the haircut wained on, I realized that he was not following any directions I had given him and was now cutting a ridge along my hairline that looked like Jak-O-Laterns teeth. At this point I'd had enough and asked him to stop. This turned into a struggle in which he actively tried to corner me in the barber shop. It was unconfortable at best. Before finally escaping I coaxed him into shaving my beard into a moustache, which, overall, added a dynamic flair to my haircut... or at least drew attention away from it.

Anyways, I shaved off the moustache this morning, and am getting used to the haircut. Maybe when a little of my hair grows back I'll take another shot at getting a mohawk, but until then, I'll have to get used to the stares. Here's a before and after picture, and I also added a picture to my last blog entry.