Peruvian Haircut

It has been 15 months since my last haircut (at which time I just shaved myself bald), and things are getting pretty shaggy.  With the low water pressure in most (all?) Peruvian showers, it was getting annoying to wash it, so I decided to get it cut.

Just down the street from our apartment is a peluquería (hair salon).  Monica had previously asked about the price of a men's haircut, and had been told 6 soles (about $2.50).  I figured at that price you can't go wrong; if I hated it I could just shave it bald again.

When we walked in today, we were greeted by the smell of pot and a tele novella playing on the TV.  I asked how much, and was told 10 soles.  Monica haggled them down to 6 again, and the hair dresser sat me down.

The 'before' glamour shot

Everything looks better in hot pink!

The hair dresser pulled out a buzzer and started shaving.  It was disconcerting to hear her chuckle every few minutes; I'm still not sure if she was laughing at me or the tele novella.

After a while she pulled out the scissors and went after the top.

Finally she reached for a giant straight razor.  At this point I was regretting the haggling, and would have been happy to pay the full 10 soles.

In the end it all turned out well enough.  Monica says the haircut looks good, and it feels nice to not have hair in my face all the time.  If it ends up annoying me I can still shave it all off. 

The end result

(And yes, we ended up tipping 4 soles for a total of 10 soles after all.)