Beautified

In two days I have undergone extreme makeover - Malian Edition. Yesterday I went and got my hair braided. Now that the hot season is coming, braiding helps keep you head ventilated - so you don't sweat under your hair. There is the added side benefit that everyone thinks you are like 5 times as beautiful. I've gotten complements from my coaches, Drissa's uncle, kids on the street, the ladies who work at the Shell station. I am sure part of it is my willingness to embrace "farafigne" style, but I honestly also get a dramatic reaction from people as if I'd gotten liposuction or a nose job.

Today, I embarked on stage 2 of my beautification - I got my feet hennaed. This is like a 4-5 hour procedure - so I planned to do it at Drissa's family's house - thus earning me extra points with the inlaws. (In Mali, you get social "credit" by sitting and visiting. You don't necessarily have to bring any great conversation or party tricks - just gotta log hours sitting next to people.) There was extensive discussion over what henna procedure I should get. There is a temporary kind - that is painted on using "black Japanese hair dye" or there is "jabi" (henna) which is then turned black with "poloni" (some kind of chemical that smells like peroxide). Drissa's sisters decided that I should get jabba done but then there was some debate over whether my feet would be able to handle the poloni - which supposedly burns. At first I was going to opt for regular henna (my argument being that in India and Morocco they use red/orange henna), but Drissa's uncle and one of his brothers put their feet down and demanded that I have black henna. The family reached a compromise and determined that we would try the poloni for 25 minutes (as compared to the regular 45) or until my feet start burning.

First, a girl from the neighborhood cut strips of white tape with a razor blad along my feet. I was a bit nervous at first because she was cutting out designs with the blade along my feet (at least it was a new blade). After the designs were cut, henna was applied to one foot by one sister - while the design specialist started on the left foot. Then the left foot and my left hand were hennaed. After being hennaed - they wrapped my feet in the omnipresent black plastic bags. Then, they proceded to put socks over the plastic bags. The entire time - a gaggle of children was wriggling and watching with anticipation.

After an hour and a half - my feet were freed from their enclosures and washed off - revealing a rich orange/red henna. The whole process felt rather nice - I guess anytime you have 3 people working on your body it feels very relaxing - like a manicure and massage at once. So then came the moment of truth - to see if the toubab could withstand the poloni. They covered my clean feet with this chemical mixed into another substance and then re-wrapped with socks and plastic bags. 15 minutes - so far, no pain - people were impressed. I heard gossip in the background - it must be that my feet are tough from sports. They looked at my feet, but it wasn't dark enough yet - so they put them back for another 15 mintues. Finally, my feet began to itch a bit and they figured they should wash off the final solution. My feet emerged rather rainbow colored - red and green and yellow and grey - a bit like a tye dye bob marley birthday tribute. Everyone laughed a little, but assured me they would become black. Now my feet have almost turned all grey/black - revealing a nice geometric zig zag pattern around the tops of my feet and darkened soles. I am planning to put on some heels and go out for a beer or two tonight and show them off.