It's her birthday. A couple of days ago she said she needs a hair cut because her hair is driving her crazy. I told her I will take her to the salon as a birthday gift if she would like. She said yes, that sounded good. We decided we would go to the salon where I always get my hair cut for $3.50.
Then I thought about also getting Fany a manicure and pedicure for her birthday. My salon always does a good job, but it is more about the results than the experience.
I get my hair cut in a tiny room with very basic stuff. There is a bench where you can sit to wait your turn. You can also leave your purse there. There is one chair for hair washing, a chair for hair cutting, and a chair for pedicures. There's a sink that doesn't work because there is no running water. They bring water in buckets from outside and stick a heater into the water so it comes out warm. You do sit in front of the sink and tip your head back to get your hair washed, like in every other salon. A small pail of warmed water is poured over your head. The water drains out of the sink into a big bucket.
I am totally accustomed to this and don't mind it a bit. I like the way the lady cuts my hair. But I thought for Fany's birthday it would be fun to go to a real salon.
So I posted on the Facebook missionary page asking the ladies there if they know a good salon. Apparently there are two nice salons here. I called and of course the prices were a lot more, but for Fany's birthday I decided to splurge. It was $14.50 for the haircut. I forgot how much the manicure/pedicure and pedicures cost. Whatever it was, it was worth it.
I told Fany I had to stop and have my car alarm adjusted on the way to the appointment. That way when I turned to go to the fancier place, she didn't suspect anything. I had to call to ask where the salon was. She thought I was lost on the way to fix the car alarm. When we parked the car and got out we started to leave the parking garage. The attendant quickly said, "Don't go out there or you will get robbed!" so we followed a very fancy lady through a side door that led straight into the salon.
I said to Fany, "Did he really say we would get robbed if we went outside?" She said, "Yes!" That was strange. But the salon was very nice.
When I told them who we were they immediately rushed Fany away to wash her hair. Another group grabbed me and took me into the manicure/pedicure area. They had regular pedicure chairs, but they sat me down in an area in the back, overlooking the city. About six ladies got right to work setting up a little station for Fany and me. Then Fany was returned to me with her hair wrapped in a towel. She looked like she was in shock. I said that out loud and the girl who had washed her hair told me yes, Fany was in shock. Fany had this blank look on her face like she didn't know where she was or what was going on.
Finally as we settled into our chairs, she began to relax. One lady worked on our hands, while another worked on our feet. We felt very pampered. The ladies were super sweet. They helped me post a photo on Facebook of Fany being "spoiled" as they say in Spanish.
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| Manicure and pedicure at the same time |
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| Haircut and pedicure |
By the time the lady came to cut Fany's hair, she had to ask Fany to sit up straight. The shock had worn off and Fany was all relaxed in her chair. Hahaha! She decided to cut a lot off her hair because she wanted everyone to be able to notice the difference. She told the woman to cut it barely to her shoulders, but the lady actually left it a little longer, with more shape around the face.
We had more than an hour of pampering with our manicures and pedicures. The lady doing my pedicure took extra time so that I finished at the same time Fany was done with her hair cut. Then they whisked everything away, including Fany, and I was left sitting with just my chair, waiting for my toes to dry.
Sometimes it felt like we were surrounded by worker bees, for the number of ladies and the way they all worked together to get things done.
When my toes were dry I found Fany getting her hair blown dry by a different young lady. Fany was having the time of her life! We watched another woman get her hair blown out and I was amazed by how beautiful her hair was. It was like a hair model on tv. Then Fany's turned out just the same! We took lots of photos and enjoyed our time immensely.
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On the way home Fany called her husband. She told him that Mary Lynn was bringing home a new woman.
This afternoon I've been reading and writing at my house. Fany has dropped in a few times just to say hello. She is wearing a huge smile along with her new haircut. I am happy that I was able to make Fany smile extra big for her birthday. She is such a good friend to me. I'm glad I was able to help make her birthday special.
Her morning started with a huge bouquet of roses and tonight we are all going out to dinner. Happy Birthday Fany! Friends like Fany are few and far between.
