My dad was going out to get a haircut and I thought that I would join him as my hair was reaching the tops of my ears. We go to this place called Bruno's Barbers. My dad asked for their best barber for me. Why? Who knows? Anyway, I sit in the chair, and next to me, my soon-to-be barber finishes up a 12 or so year-old kid. He motions for me to move to that chair and I do.
He asks me how I want it, I tell him I want it short on the sides and back with a short trim on top. He starts by taking out the vibrating plastic blade that we are all so used to in the States and trims the back and sides. This is the last time he used something that plugged in.
Then, he took out a straight-blade and asked me if I wanted to keep the sideburns, I said no. He used the straight-blade the same way an American barber would use the sharp vibrating thingy, to cut hair to the skin.
Anyway, I don't want to bore you all with the details of my haircut, but the thing that struck me the most was the care and caution and precision that my barber took. It was as if this was the final exam at Cosmetology school, and every strand of hair out of place resulted in points taken off. There was also a degree of tenderness. He spritzed water in his hand and kind of rubbed it on my hair. He gently smeared talcum powder on the sides and back. He checked his work several times. It was astonishing. The whole time I was thinking, "One could easily pay $40-$60 for this in the States". Then he asked me if I liked it spiky or down, I said I didn't like spiky hair, and so he combed it over and gave me a little flair in the front.
Finally, he wrapped it all up with a hot towel to clean off my face and a brief neck massage. My dad tipped each of our barbers 20%, or 50 pesos.
I tried taking a picture when I got back home, but he just styled it with water, and it was so, I don't want to say perfect, but it was so perfect that the moment we went outside in a slight breeze, it wasn't the same.
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