I went for a routine trim at my usual hair cutter in Nairobi this weekend, as my hair was getting a bit too bushy. The guy ended up cutting a ton of hair off and I was panicked at first. As my heart began to beat faster I decided that I would just say, “It looks good” and pay for it, then run over to the first barber shop and buzz it all off. In the end it wasn’t as bad as I thought, but I definitely had to get rid of my beard. I haven’t seen some of those freckles on my cheek in years. Now it’s been three days since I got the cut and I’ve gotten a boat load of compliments; I guess Kenyans just don’t like the California beach boy/hippy look.
In other news, I went ice skating this weekend. There’s a ridiculously-nice hotel on Mombasa road called Panari, and it has an ice-skating rink. Imagine that, it’s gotta be the only one in East Africa, if not all of Africa. Most of the people there were kids, and they were all kids who looked like they had done it before. The chicks I went with had never skated on ice or pavement so it was slow-going. I tried to help out a bit, but I even had some problems because the blades on the skates were a bit dull. The guy who worked at the rink had really nice skates, though, like straight from the NHL.
There are a few more pictures here: http://thefro.org/gallery2/v/2009/iceskating
My skinny brother, ice skating looks so fun! I actually like seeing you without your facial hair. it’s like highschool all over again!
Yeah, people here really like the new look, even if it was just an accident! I guess it’s not so bad…
dude it is like high school!
Hey Alan. Like the new doo! You do look years younger. I didn’t know you in high school but now I can imagine!
This (yours copied below) was a hoot! I guess in a warm climate…
Your post card with Christmas greetings JUST arrived! Yipes! We’d heard when you and S first went over that mail could be slow, but it seem those first few months that it was fairly fast… We were happy to hear from you regardless! Not much going on here, but we are enjoying this unexpected extra “adult” time with Sara while it lasts!
I think I like your fro better, regardless of what the locals say! It just adds to your overall pizazz!
Take good care,
Piper
You wrote: You pay 800 shillings (around 10 dollars) per person and you get to skate for an hour, after that they have to close to re-freeze the ice, haha.
Nothing fails like success.