Tuesday, 25 November 2014

A haircut and a Christmas Fayre...Azerbaijani style


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

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