Thai Dyed: Everything Under the Heavens

My mad selfie skills

I finally got up the courage to go for my first haircut in Thailand a while back. The hair of an older white lady must be quite different in texture to that of the beautiful, dark Thai hair. After a very vigorous shampooing, it was obvious that my hair was a tangled, knotty mess. As the woman slowly combed it out, she remarked that I had "Barbie hair." Nice - unfortunately, mine isn't stretchy plastic.

I went for a second haircut about a month ago. This time I had a nice lady boy cut my hair. The term "lady boy" is not an insult here. I've had conversations about this with my Thai teacher, because I don't want to appear rude or judgmental. He says this is the polite term to use, in Thailand anyway. He said he has a good friend who is a lady boy. I also learned that not all lady boys dress as women - some just identify as feminine. Thai language has gender-specific polite endings used regularly when speaking - "Krup" for men, "Kaa" for women. Lady boys use a third polite ending. And lady boys a very normal part of everyday life, working in stores, restaurants, Starbucks, beauty salons and everywhere else. Who gets to use which bathroom is a non-issue.

Anyway, I again enjoyed an ardent shampoo and head massage, and again my hair grew into a tangled mess. I could feel my already dwindling hair being pulled out by the roots as she combed out the knots. A few more beauty shop visits and I may be completely bald when I return! Oh, how I miss my old hairdresser, Carrie.

In the chair next to me, a farang was getting a straight-razor shave by a young man. Not sure you could find a young man doing a straight-razor shave in the US. Seemed like only the old guys did that in their traditional barber shops.

Non sequitur alert...

The ice cream here is a bit odd to our taste - definitely different than what we're used to. I bought ice cream once that I thought was sherbet. "3-in-1 Asian Delight" was not sherbet, but three interesting flavors of ice cream: matcha green tea, thai milk tea, and salacider.

Matcha green tea powder is commonly used in Japanese tea ceremonies. Thai milk tea is a spicy, golden orange-colored black tea traditionally sweetened with condensed milk, for which I have unfortunately developed an affinity since we've been here. I never heard of salacider, so I looked it up. It comes from sala fruit, also foreign to me. So I looked for it in the store, and found these bunches of fruit that look similar to strawberries, but with spiky hairs like Velcro. Inside is a sweet, whitish fruit with texture a bit like a grape, around a large pit. Interesting taste, with a tangy hint of bubble gum, but not one I'd seek out on a regular basis.