Cutting Patrick's Hair

So we did cut Patrick's hair last night...it was quite the excitement for the day. I only did a little at the beginning and then Liz mostly took over, which is good. I think the last person's hair I cut was Kelly's and we were outside, the wind was blowing, and it looked terrible. In any case, the cut actually looks pretty good on Patrick and he seemed satisfied. I was nervous at the beginning b/c he was being really picky and telling us how to do everything, but it worked out. Amie (my mom) was upset that he cut it b/c it takes the Africans so long to grow out their hair--she's been growing hers out for 8 years, and it's barely longer than mine. peter said it's good we did it though b/c the barber's here would not know how to layer it and such--muzungu hair is so different.

And speaking of hair, on Sunday i had my hair pulled back in a ponytail and pinned up. Amie asked if I just washed my hair. "No, this is day 3," I said. Then she was so curious about how it was so slick and shiny. i told her it was oil. she said, "oh, you put oil on it?" b/c that's what the africans have to do to their hair since it's so dry. then i told her my hair just naturally makes the oil and grease. she thought that was great. i thought the whole conversation was hilarious. basically you can go days without washing your hair and no one can tell.

I have to tell you the story of this girl in Kibera. Virginia did a lot of home visits while she was here and met someone named Lilian. Lilian's parents both died recently from AIDS. then she was raped by her step father and proceeded to get pregnant. But she decided to keep the baby b/c she felt like it was the right thing to do and that the child was not at fault. We were able to visit her, and the daughter is beautiful. But Lilian is really struggling b/c she has no source of income. So Virginia asked Po Po if it would be appropriate to have the girl do our laundry. I know this would be an insult at home, but here it's not. And actually it's an amazing help for us. I never have any time to do laundry b/c i get home too late and it takes a good 1 1/2 hours of scrubbing. So we paid Lilian to do it. I hope this becomes a regular thing, as it would be a good way for her to make money I think. It's ridiculous though how cheap things are...we gave here 200 shillings each, about $3 for a bag of laundry. Victor says that's the best rate anyone would get, so it's very culturally appropriate, just seems like nothing to me.

i woke up at 5:45 today to get to the american embassy on time, and this time they tell me that they're closed the last wednesday of the month...um seriously do these people ever work? fortunately we were able to find many materials for camp and we bought 110 pairs of flip flops to pass out at the juvenile home tomorrow. 110 shows for $60...super cheap.