Awkward Haircut

Little did I know that after writing the last two posts that I would have the opportunity to write a similar one about my most recent haircut.

Getting a haircut here is always a bit of an adventure anyway as good hairdressers are 1) hard to find, and 2) incredibly expensive. But over the last year, I've located a couple of options. Actually, I tried to find a consistent hairdresser, but one other trait of salons here is appointment cancellations ... sometimes last minute. So, I'm now growing my hair long to minimize the haircut hassle.

But even in the growing out phase, it was time for a trim, so I made a last minute appointment on a Friday morning, which was pretty lucky so I figured maybe this time, the haircut would be a pleasant and smooth experience. (sigh - I've always been a hopeful kind of gal)

When I arrived, my hairdresser was standing outside the salon talking in animated Arabic which sounded angry (but you can't always tell with Arabic). Still, it didn't seem like a good omen. Checked in and had a seat. Not too much longer, she came back in and took me to the chair. I explained what I wanted and headed to the shampoo basins. Shampoos are done by the salon assistants here, not your stylist so all was going according to plan. And the assistant was great and I got a nice head massage (not awkward at all ;)

Meanwhile, my stylist started a blow dry on another client who had an appointment before mine. After a few minutes waiting, my stylist asked, "Could I have some of your time please so I can finish her blow dry?" Sure, I wasn't in a hurry and an extra 5 minutes wouldn't hurt anything.

20 minutes later she came back to my chair and apologized. The good thing was the salon manager (I think) got me some coffee and a couple of free trial bottles of conditioner for my inconvenience. I was impressed that she noticed and tried to make up for it - that doesn't happen much here.

We finally got started and she seemed to be doing a good job, no complaints on my end.

About halfway through my cut, one of the assistants started teasing her about being in the same dress as yesterday. Come to find out, she had left the salon late the night before, gone to dinner, had waaay too much to drink (this is her recounting the story to me) so ended up partying all night. Her plan was to go home and shower and have a nap, but then one of her clients (the blow dry marathon lady) called so she came straight in to work.

Seriously?

I started paying closer attention to make sure she was cutting in a straight line after that story! What would possess you to tell a client, a NEW client, that you've been up all night partying and are really tired and haven't showered? Did she think she was forming a bond with me or something? That I would sympathize and forgive any crooked edges because she was hung over?

Awkward

The good news is the haircut turned out fine. Who knows, maybe she does her best work hung over? It will make me think twice about going back to her, however. But I shouldn't have to worry about it again for at least 8 weeks.

Awkward Massages - Part II

I tried to resist the Call of the Groupon, but I'm weak, and I admit it. This time I was enticed by a set of 3 one-hour massage sessions for AED 219 - that's $60 for THREE Massages!! And I figured this way Brian could get one too. And, the vendor was a medical centre - surely they know how to give a decent massage? ... right? ... (sigh)

Again, I had trouble even making the appointment. My phone calls were with a guy who spoke passable English but giggled every time he had to tell me they didn't have any appointments available. It took 2 phone calls for him to definitively tell me we couldn't get in the next day, and another 2 calls and more giggling to finally make an appointment for the following weekend. But, all sorted, Brian and I were scheduled for massages the following Saturday at 2pm.

We headed downtown and found the location. The 'medical center' was housed in a converted villa apartment in one of the high rises downtown. This isn't really that unusual as most small businesses are set up this way, but even though we know that's how it works here, it's a little disconcerting.

We were greeted by 'Giggles' who asked for our Groupon voucher (we were using 2 of the 3 massages on the voucher) and asked us to wait. It was then decided that Brian would have an oil massage, but that I needed something called a slimming massage. ... yeah, you can imagine how thrilled I was to hear that. Something of a Filipino cultural thing to point out to us Westerners how fat we are. But, oh well, how bad could it be, and what if it really worked? ;)

Off to separate rooms - bigger than the last 'spa' but very clinical, which I did actually expect. Just the massage table, a sink and a desk. Luckily, she kept the fluorescent lights off.

The massage started out just fine and basically what I've come to expect here - they aren't great, but get the job done, and I was feeling pretty proud of my discount and restored faith in Groupon.

And then it was time for the 'slimming' part of the massage. (I feel like I should suggest you pause here to let you mind come up with all manner of creative ideas of what this might have entailed. Your imagination is probably a lot more interesting than what actually happened.)

The slimming part of the massage is this lotion of some kind of Chinese miracle plant extract that she rubbed into my upper arms, stomach, thighs and calves. Then she wrapped all those parts in Saran Wrap (yes, seriously) and left me to 'slim' for about 15 minutes. While she was gone, the stuff started to burn, so I tried to imagine all the fat burning off while I lay there so as to keep myself from pulling off the plastic wrap. Then, the plastic comes off that that's it. I tried to wash the stuff off in the sink, but no luck - my arms and right inner thigh in particular were really burning now and looked red to me. I tried to see if I looked any slimmer ...

Brian's experience wasn't much better - awkward, not at all relaxing and now he was covered in oil. As we started to leave, Giggles made sure we had our voucher for the 3rd massage ... this was tossed in the nearest garbage can when we left the building.

My arms and thigh burned for the better part of the next two hours and I don't look even the slightest bit slimmer.  Okay this time I really am going to STOP buying Groupons ... promise.

Awkward Massages - Part I

I blame it on Groupon. For those of you unfamiliar, Groupon is a discount voucher website that offers all kinds of things we can't live without for at minimum 50% off. For those of you really unfamiliar, I'm a sucker for a discount. And on top of this, they send a daily email enticing you to partake of these discounts. Recently, I was sucked in by the following:

Sit back & relax with a 1-Hour Full Body Aroma Massage with or without Mani-Pedi including Colour starting from AED 85

85 Dirham (AED) is about $23! A full hour massage AND a manicure AND a pedicure for $23?! What right-minded girl wouldn't sign up for that deal? So, of course, I did.

I made the appointment after 2 phone calls to the establishment, a lot of yelling in Arabic and finally a Filipina who spoke enough English to take my details. Hmmm, starting to wonder if this was a good idea, but hey, language barriers are just part of the adventure, right?

I arrived on a Saturday at 1:00pm ready to spend the afternoon being pampered. I was greeted warmly and asked for my Groupon voucher and then asked to wait. There were 4 women in the salon, and I later understood that 3 were employees (I think one may have been the owner) and one customer getting her hair colored. After a few minutes, I was shown to a very, very small room with one of those plastic accordion things for a door - not very private and didn't at all minimize the racket coming from the salon. I got undressed and on the table for the massage.

The Filipina came into the room and told me she would be doing my treatment today. She was very nice and got started without any fuss. The fuss was coming from the other side of the 'door'. Apparently, something wasn't to the customer's liking so there was a lot of yelling and arguing happening literally right outside the massage closet. Not exactly the tranquil atmosphere I was hoping for. To make matters worse, my therapist (word used very lightly) had to go and help sort out the mess ... THREE DIFFERENT TIMES! Each time she came back and said, "sorry madam, I give you more minutes, so sorry." Yeah, not as sorry as I was becoming for buying that Groupon.

Now I'm the only customer in the salon, and aside from the TV blaring (all in Arabic), things quieted down slightly ... until my therapist started whispering to me. She started telling me how horrible it was to work there, how the owner was okay, but the other hair stylist was awful to her and very lazy. Ummmm, seriously? I didn't know what to say and certainly had no intention of getting involved so just mumbled a few oh, hmmm, that's awfuls hoping she'd stop talking! Well, eventually she did, told me to get dressed and now it was time for my manicure and pedicure. It was now almost 2:30pm and I think I felt less relaxed than when I arrived.

I should have bolted. I'd gotten my 23 dollars worth and should have cut and run, but for whatever reason, I followed the same woman over to the mani-pedi area. Another hour and a half and I left with one of the worst mani-pedis I've ever received. The good news is that the pedicure itself wasn't too bad - just took forever. But I don't think this woman has any training in actual nail polish application. It was smeared, uneven and all over my skin. Really bad job. And while this is going on, the 'mean' hair stylist was cracking her gum, adjusting her really ill fitting tight jeans and sending texts while the owner changed the TV channel every 3 minutes. 90 minutes of this awkwardness!

I finally left  around 4pm not feeling the least bit relaxed and making a pledge not to fall for any more Groupon deals. (you did see the part I in the title, right? ... stay tuned)

The Changing Seasons, Sandbox Style

One of the things I miss most about home (aside from the people of course) is the changing seasons. My favorite is fall when the air gets cooler, the leaves turn color, apples are in season and the holidays start. Then of course there's the first snowfall of winter and those cozy wintery weekend days where you don't even feel guilty if you spend the whole day reading a book with a kitty on your lap. Well, I also like Spring quite a bit as the world starts to green up, everything smelling so fresh and clean, and the flowers ... Hmmm, I can't forget summer either with perfect days and a perfect rainstorm or two to mix things up a bit. So yeah, the changing seasons is something I miss living here in the sand box.

But don't misunderstand, there are seasons here in the land of sand dunes and camels, they're just a bit more subtle. Here's an overview of the changing seasons, sandbox style.

Fall (September - November) while not my favorite season in Abu Dhabi, it's similar to home in that the air gets cooler ... meaning the temp goes from 115 to 85 over the course of season. The humidity drops a bit as well, which is such a welcome change that we start sitting outside in weather that would have us running to the air conditioned house back home. The best part is the overheated crankiness starts to abate as you realize relief is on the horizon and soon it will be winter. (I know, such a weird thing to think coming from Wisconsin where winter is considered a swear word to some.)

One of the many Plumeria trees that start to flower during the fall

Winter (December - March) is my new favorite season. The temperatures range between 60 to about 85 and it can get chilly enough to need a sweater. The humidity drops significantly and the wind picks up. This is the season of sandstorms, but they don't happen frequently enough to cause too much frustration. We now start living outside, which is such a welcome change from the blistering summer. The best part is the flowers. The city is transformed and annuals are planted everywhere making the place look cheery and clean. Winter is nice.

Would you believe I can't find a photo of the flowers?

Spring (April-May) is pretty short and perhaps I should include March here to even things out a bit, I don't know. The temps creep up until one day you realize it's 100 degrees and you're sweating through your business suit. The good news is the flowers and plants are out of control and look stunning, and on a good day, things will cool off enough for you to spend the evening outside to desperately hold onto the wonderful winter feeling. But, the real issue with Spring is that it reminds you that summer is coming.

Spring in the dessert (looks just like Summer, Winter and Fall)

Summer (June-August) is just plain miserable. I really can't think of one redeeming, positive thing to say about it. The high is consistently 105 or higher and the humidity can hit 80% on a bad day (so don't even try to make me feel better by saying it's a 'dry heat', it isn't). It's a bit surreal to hear people complain about the summer after growing up in an area where everyone looks forward to summer. Our first (and only so far) summer was an adventure and something to be irrationally proud of, "I survived an Abu Dhabi summer" kind of stuff. But this year I'm just dreading it. The novelty of your skin 'fogging up' when you step outside is gone and now I'm plotting ways to leave the country during the summer months, or maybe spend them immersed in the chilled pool.

The only comfortable place during the summer months!

So, I guess it's not so much that I miss having seasons, because we have seasons all right. I guess it's the variety that I miss, and the green, and the rainstorms, and the snow ... but maybe I'm just wistful  because today's temp will reach 102 and it'll only go up from there. :)

The Kittens under the Stairs - Update

I'm sure a few of you at least have been waiting for me to announce a new family member ... well, you'll have to continue waiting. We were able to resist the cuteness of the kittens and Rogue remains an only cat. This is mostly because the kittens were moved before they reached the irresistible stage of development. Last we saw them, their eyes were just barely opened and they were wobbling a bit, but pretty much staying close to the kitten pile and their mama. Here's what happened.

We came home from Dubai after a fun weekend with our visitors to find posters inside the villa. One said, " Keep the doors closed." and the other "No feeding of cats." We also had a note under our door from the management telling us to move the cats and kittens as they are not allowed inside and had been disturbing the other tenants. Yep, someone had 'ratted out' the little cuties and since we had been feeding mama, I guess they thought we were responsible for moving them outside.

Actually, we were happy about this because it gave us the chance to move them somewhere safe. Our fear was that the villa management would have had them killed. So, we moved them to our back patio (much to Rogue's chagrin) and set out some food and water. I don't think Rogue moved once from the window that night and mama kitty seemed just as bothered by Rogue on the other side of the glass.

A day or two later, as I was getting ready for work, I heard some mewling, and after some investigation realized it was coming from the front of the villa. In our car park area I found one of the kittens all by himself - strange. So, I scooped him up and carried him back out to the patio at the back of the villa. That's when I saw mama kitty scaling the patio wall with another of the kittens in her mouth. Ahhh, she was moving them. I waited a bit thinking what to do with the one I 'rescued' when mama came back with the same kitten followed by another Tom cat from the compound. Lots of hissing and spitting and mama brought the kitten back to the box with the rest of the family.

Not much I could do to help so I went off to work wondering all day what I would find when I returned home.

You guessed it, all the kittens were gone. :( But I can certainly understand why - she had Rogue looking on from within the house, a calico Tom patrolling the garden wall and a very fluffy Orange guy/gal who stops over every couple of weeks to torment Rogue. Not a very safe place for a new batch of kittens.

Since then, we've only seen the kittens once, but my neighbor had them in her patio for a couple of weeks and now they're old enough to hunt and fend for themselves. Glad they've survived so far and really glad we weren't more tempted to bring one in the house. It's just better if the cats in the house are outnumbered by the people. :)