A Salon Saloon!

I have a new friend, she is from the UK, but her heritage is Indian. She is a fantastic source for all things Dubai. She is also the wife of a pilot. We'll call her Blue, she looks great in blue... and I don't want to use names as to protect the privacy of others... you understand. Anyhow, I met her at coffee this last Tuesday and we set out to meet on Saturday, which we did. But I had no idea what I was really in for. I taxied my way down to her place and we went from there. We headed for Bur Dubai, or Al Mina as the map would show... that is where the salon is... or saloon... well either way, the route took us to an area I'm not familiar with. We came to a building that had no great sign or description of the salon, but Blue knew where to go. Two floors up and a plain hall which led to an ominous black carved door. If I would've been alone, I don't know that I would have entered... but we did. It smelled more like a restaurant then a salon... odd...very odd... it was an all white room with blue chairs.... reminded me of my International Academy in Daytona.. sterile, but not really. All the workers were Philipino... and the receptionist was Indian...normal for this area. It looked like a patched up job... or like they rushed to put everything together so it had a haphazard feel and look to it. At any rate it wasn't what I expected to find behind the big black door.

Let me address why the call it a saloon...at least let me share why I think they call it saloon. See here in the UAE, women cover up, 99% of the time.. so salons are very private... so private in fact, that there are lot of black doors and dark curtains so that a leering eye can't sneak a peek. Understand, you have women with their heads exposed for cuts and color, feet and legs exposed for pedicures, arms for manicures and of course lets not foget the massage and facial rooms where shoulders and backs come out of hiding... For all these reasons, only women are allowed.. which makes it a saloon... and not just a salon... Something connected with the wild west and women not being allowed in the local saloons to watch men behaving crudely... I'm guessing anyhow... I could be wrong and thanks for the explanation if you give one.

Back to the story. Blue bought a voucher... which for $140.00 Dirhams ($38US) you can get a hair cut, shampoo, blow dry, manicure, pedicure, arm and leg waxing, eyebrow threading...and a facial. and you don't have to do do it all at once. Nuts...but do you actually get what you pay for? This was my reason for going with Blue... I wanted to see what it was like and what kind of service I could expect from the average salon. Blue went straight into the chair, but she asked to have color applied, which they did... then she sat for 30 minutes...I read a magazine during this portion of the experience... then Blue alerted the woman that the color should be washed out... they lady said 'no you need 10 more minutes' so with the color still the applied, they took her away to have her waxing... this is what I observed in her absence; A girl, about my age had been waiting for the chair to come free, when it did she was instructed to sit in it... a few minutes later a Philipino woman came over. Now... you know how in movies they show a macho guy into a room where he is gonna get a massage, then they send in a 'Helga' type therapist that has more girth and strength then the Hulk? Yeah... this is the hairdresser... dressed in all white, tight bun, strong, with that evil looking smirk... Helga is going to cut this girl's hair. There was NO communication... maybe I missed it.. maybe they discussed it before hand.. maybe they had some secret eye language.. but I do know, that neither one spoke a word the entire cut. It was more akin to butchering a chicken then a hair cut. No talking just chopping... the pile on the floor grew bigger and I had to wonder if the girl in the chair was silently cursing Helga. When the girl sat down she looked great, gorgeous hair, full of body and when Helga was done... her cut looked just like mine does at this moment... Strange...

Not even 30 seconds after the girl stood up there was a second victim in the chair. I wondered about Blue.. she stil had the color on her head and I wondered if her hair would fall out by the time they get to her. The second victim had long straight dark hair... she was very specific with Helga and when she started on her work, I noticed that her chopping turned into precsion cutting... I thought perhaps it had to do with the person in the chair... or was it just because whe was specific. I guess I'll never know. It really doesn't matter what kind of cut you get, everyone has such gorgeous hair. But then I caught myself thinking, what's the point of all the fuss over their hair? They cover it up anyhow.

Helga was done with her cut and she pulled out this broom... I've never seen anything like it...It looked like it was made using a horse's tail. I was so mezmorized by the broom that I didn't notice that Blue approached me... she had all her waxing done.. arms, underarms and legs... then she sat to have her hair washed. It was her turn for a cut.. but Helga had been given another job and she is the only 'cutter' in the salon.. strange. I have no idea how the appointment system works or how they know who is doing what. But the Indian lady walks around with the appointment book the entire time settling disputes and making changes and arranging who gets what. Complete caos. Blue started to get annoyed and had the Indian lady get Helga... after all, why would you let a lady sit with a wet head while another lady is just starting a pedicure? (by the way, Helga, did not wash her hands when she switched, yuk) So here was Helga with Blue at her hand being chopped... even with instruction...Helga chopped.

It was at this particular moment that I desided to get my hair done in the states.

Next was her eyebrow threading... I know lots of you have heard of this, and possibly have had it done...but I was completely facinated by the process... I had to get up from my chair to watch blue get her threading.... Crazy. Someone had to be VERY bored to figure out how to tweese with cotton thread. Since the Indian lady couldn't get her act together.. the mani/pedi portion was rescheduled to another day. An with that we were off to the next thing.

The next thing... well Blue was going to show me her stomping grounds. First the framer. A tiny shop with an old Indian man wearing a cute little hat...Blue and he started talking, but I understood nothing. Then she turned to me and aked if I would like Indian tea...and before I could answer yes, and young man shoved a cup into my hand. I was leary at first... since I'd never had Indian tea, but I did promise to try everything.. so I did... and it was good...reminded me of the tea my grandmother used to make when I was little. So I drank the whole thing while they discussed matting and frames... so cheap. I couldn't believe what she paid. $30US for 2 double matted custom frames. After a little expected haggling on the price we set out to meet another friend who would be joining us for the later part of the outing. Let's call her Swede. Swede is not Swedish.. she is Indian like Blue, but they are from different parts of India. Blue wore her traditional dress so that the shop keepers wouldn't take advantage of her... they always raise the prices for tourist. Swede was in western clothes, and I wore jeans... Why? I don't know... I know better then to wears jean when waslking around outside.. it's way to hot for that!

Anyhow, we went next to Blue's taylor. Another small shop with loads of material and all kind of books showing different national dress. Saris are his specialty though. Blue was having a top made, and after some short explanations and choosing of a neck line she was quickly measured and we headed out into the alley. Now, all these shops are in allies. If I didn't know that Duabi was safe, I would say that this area is dodgy and I would trust it.. but it doesn't matter how shady it looks, it is safe, completely. We weaved in and out looking at materials, dresses, shirts, haberdashery shops, accessory shops, jewelry shops, purses, bags, shoes.. you name it.. we looked at it. It was a learning experience for me... learning where was good for this and that... Blue was an excellent guide and she was obliging to all our whims.

It was about 7:30 when we became hungry so we stopped at this hole in the wall place that didn't look like much, but when we got inside we saw how pleasant it was. This is where the girls taught me about Indian food and spices... I had no idea about any of it, so I let them order dinner for me so I could sample different things and get to know what I liked. They schooled me in masalas and how curry powder is really a mixture of spices and how regional indian dishes are different. An amazing dinner, followed by another cup of Indian tea. We sat for a while then Swede's huband called to say he was nearby...so we headed out. Blue then took me into Choithram's a local supermarket... where she showed me the spice isle and all the different things I could get. Facinating!

Blue really took me on an adventure of sorts... I saw all kinds of things I would never expect to see... and I am grateful. It was 10pm by the time we caught a cab home and I was fully exauhsted from all the walking and learning. All in all, it was a good day.