Getting a Haircut in Madrid

The main difference between traveling abroad and living abroad is adjusting to the unique, yet mundane everyday tasks.  In addition to traveling around the city and visiting museums, you are also planning grocery lists and budgeting.  Today, I had another unique yet mundane task: getting a haircut.

                This may sound simple, but I am very protective of my hair and was worried about getting a bad haircut due to misunderstanding.  Eventually though, I knew it was time.  I was not about to go for ten whole months without getting a haircut.  It’s too hot here to have long hair.  I had a random day off and decided that I had no more excuses: it was time to get a haircut.

                Being the person, I am, I googled how to get a haircut in Spain first.  A very helpful piece of advice: in a lot of Spanish speaking countries, you hold out fingers to indicate how much you want to have cut off.  This was a relief for me; I was dreading trying to convert inches.  I also looked up a few helpful phrases listed below:

Capas de pelo: hair layers

Quiero cortame el pelo: I want a haircut

Lavado: hair wash

Peluquería: hair salon

Sin flequillo: without bangs

Secar: to dry

I was relieved to see my stylist also had curly hair; anyone who has curly hair knows why I say this.  She was also very helpful with words I was unfamiliar with.  I felt comfortable with the situation.  I don’t feel quite comfortable enough to make major changes just yet, but I feel confident enough to go in and get a trim.  My hair turned out just fine and now that I am more familiar with the process I will not dread getting a haircut in Spanish again!