Cape Town,
South Africa
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Neptune Day. A day when apparently they wake you up early in the morning by marching through the halls banging pots and pans and knocking on your door, and if you go outside they throw fish guts on you. It's a day when you can abandon your previous life as a pollywog and become a scale back (I think that's what it's called) if you are worthy. Well, they certainly woke us up early with the pots and pans banging, but the fish guts throwing was optional. Everyone gathered on the seventh deck around the pool as the administrators and faculty danced around in costume, and King Neptune, or the captain of the ship, covered head to toe in green body paint and wearing a grass skirt, sat at the head of the pool. If you wanted to be initiated into the world of the scale backs, you had to prove yourself worthy. After pouring "fish guts" (a mixture of milk, oatmeal, and fish oil) on you, you had to wade through the pool, kiss a fish (dead, but real), and pay homage to King Neptune. Lauren became a scale back, but I didn't want to get "fish guts" thrown on me. Not because I couldn't handle it, but because I needed my hair to be clean. In order to donate your hair, it had to be clean and dry. And if I wanted to get initiated, I wouldn't have had time to shower, blow dry my hair, and get back up there in time. Yes, I donated my hair today. Neptune Day is the day you shave your head, so along with Rock the Hawk it was the second opportunity to donate your hair to Locks of Love. I didn't shave my head, either, so don't worry. After I decided against the Mohawk, it didn't even cross my mind. I did get eleven inches cut off, though. You put your hair in a ponytail and then every two inches wrap a rubber band around it to keep it together after its cut. Because my hair was so long and because I didn't want it that short, I had Katie cut it between the first and second rubber bands rather than between the scalp and the first rubber band. But yes, Katie cut my hair. And I have to say, I hate it. I absolutely hate it. I almost called my Mom crying today after I went to the salon to get it trimmed up, but decided against it because I doubted the phone would have worked and that just would have upset me more. And I hate how silly I was being about it. I mean, it's just hair. It grows back. I'd grown it out in the first place with the intent to donate it to Locks of Love, so what better time to do it now as part of the traditions for my study abroad program? It all made sense. You needed at least ten inches to make a wig, and without even chopping it all off I had enough. It will be easier to maintain during my travels but it will have had some time to gain some length by the time I get back to the States. I'd made the decision to do it on Thursday night during Rock the Hawk, because the rep said you could just donate and not shave your head. I went back and forth on it all day yesterday, and woke up this morning completely against it. It's just hair, but I'd grown to love it so much. I hadn't had hair that long since I was about nine years old, and I hadn't gotten more than a trim since chopping it right before I started college. But, I remembered why I'd grown it out in the first place, to donate it to Locks of Love. I allowed myself to be sad about it, but I didn't allow myself to let it change my mind. So I went up and I did it. While Lauren got fish guts poured on her, Katie chopped off my hair with a pair of scissors. I went straight up to the salon to fix it because kitchen scissors just don't do the job well enough and had the lady even it out. Mom, I think you'll be excited to know that, after years of you telling me how cute it would look on me, I have an A-line cut. It's shorter in the back and gets longer towards my face. I was okay during the actual cutting, I was okay when I got to the room and saw it. I was upset and missed the length immediately, but I didn't cry. Sitting in the chair, though, seeing her take the scissors to the last long chunk that hadn't made Katie's cut, I had to fight pretty hard to keep the tears from rolling. And of course, at that moment Maria asked me if I liked what she was doing with it and what am I going to say, no? Of course not. She did a nice job. You can really see it when it's wet and straight, but my hair is so curly and even more so with this humidity that you can't really tell when it air dries. It's always a little bit fun walking around with a new haircut because everyone comments on it, except for today. At least not until I realized that because it's so curly, it looks a lot like Carrie's on Season Five of Sex and the City. It's a fun, curly bob. And as I sit down to write this, I have gotten used to it a bit more. But above all else, someone who has no hair at all will have a wig made partly of mine. I think this is the most girlie, dare I say the shallowest entry I'll write, I promise. But after the hair thing, I didn't do much else but nap and write papers. I yelled at my computer a few times today because it doesn't allow me to print in the computer lab, so I have use internet minutes to attach my papers to Word documents and email them to myself, and open them up on the desktops in the computer lab. But other than that, it was a pretty good day without classes. So tomorrow, back to the daily grind, until South Africa in a week! I am so incredibly excited, I can barely stand it. Robben Island, a township tour, cage diving, sky diving...so many possibilities! Only six more days.
