Expatiperro

With the possible exceptions of giving instructions to a plastic surgeon or trying to talk your way out of getting arrested, few foreign language exchanges are more fraught with peril than going in for a haircut. Challenges include knowing the appropriate vocab (bangs, layering, highlights, tapering, curved neckline, etc), trusting a new barber, and worst of all, hoping that this new barber doesn't ignore your instructions and instead give you whatever the popular hairstyle is in that particular country.

In Chile, where everyone and their mothers (literally) had a mullet or some variation on the theme, one had to be especially cautious about getting a haircut, because barbers tended to treat gringos' hair as blank canvases to practice hairstyles they would later give native Chileans. For my only haircut there, despite my explicit instructions ("Por favor, no quiero chocopanda" - Please, no mullet), I walked out looking like something out of a Jeff Foxworthy skit, though I did get many compliments from my Chilean friends on my chic 'do.

Unfortunately, Spanish hairstyles seem to be stuck in the 80s as well, but on Friday, I decided to throw caution to the wind and get a trim. Before heading to the salon, I boned up on my hair-related vocab, told myself that in the worst case, I could just shave my head, and downed a glass of wine. Nerves calmed, I let the barber tell me how he wanted to cut my hair, and I closed my eyes to wait to see how it turned out.

I'm happy to say that I don't have a mullet. Perhaps the best description for the hairstyle I got is "Euro-trendy"- short on the sides, a little longer on top and in front, with my bangs swept over to one side. I don't know if I'd be caught dead with this in the US, but in Barcelona, it feels acceptable, maybe even a bit... stylish? Jeez, I didn't think I would have ever used that word to describe myself.

(Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures, but I'll post some when I do.)