Last week I finally
plucked up the courage to get my hair cut. I had two options – option one: play
it safe and pay £20 at Toni & Guys where the barber speaks English, or
option two: head to a local salon, pay a lot less and see what happens. To the surprise
of Lauren, I went for option two!!
We pass a salon
every day walking to work, and every day it's busy, so that's where we headed.
I was ushered in and offered tea, Lauren was even offered half a bar of
chocolate by the barber's wife!
Ahmed sat me in a
free chair as I tried to explain what I wanted. Ahmed spoke no English. So I
showed him a photo of me with shorter hair, which I'm not sure he paid much
attention to, he said okay and was soon going at my hair with a pair of
scissors {one of six different pairs, along with four different combs, he used
during that hour!}.
He did a good job
and gave me a card to give to my friends. Lauren used the only Azeri word she
knows to let him know that it was good - yaxsi - he was happy with that. And at
£4 a cut, I’ll definitely be going back!
We're missing
Christmas a bit here {we'd normally be onto our 10th pack of mince pies by this
time} so when we found out there was a Christmas Fayre at the Hyatt we got
quite excited. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't what I saw.
There were a few
Christmas stalls selling overpriced ornaments and handmade cards, and
then it got a little strange: stalls offering nanny services, VIP airport
packages, international shipping, pizza and curry. Not quite the festive
experience we had hoped for.
I had a spin of the
tombola…my only wish one of the Cadburys selection packs…but I didn't win. So
we faced the Arctic winds and headed back. I think we'll save Christmas for
next year.
On the
bright side, Lauren has been busy planning our Dubai trip for this coming
weekend and Thailand for Christmas. It looks like I’m going to be busy on
holiday as usual… J
