Day 2: The adventure begins

Today, Kadra, our maid recommended a place where I could get my hair braided. Wait. Did I forget to mention I have a maid?? She is so sweet and has agreed to help me learn French; one of the many languages she knows. Kadra stated that it would cost me no more than $50 USD since I was providing my own hair. She also insisted that I exchange the money beforehand so they wouldn't rip me off. As if that mattered!! They charged me $70 USD(12000 Djiboutian Francs) for microbraids. No doubt, I love my hair and I know it would have been 3x more in DC for what took two people 8 hours (Yes, they are that small and my head is THAT big), but I was hoping to pay $15 USD like Tricy told me she paid when she went to Tanzania. *sigh*

Needless to say, even after we exchanged my money, I still didn't have the money to pay the braider. They didn't accept credit cards and wouldn't accept anything less for all the time they spent. I can't say I blame them, but Kadra was belligerent. I am not sure what she was saying to the braider, but the body language told me that she wasn't using any words that could be found in the King James Version of the Holy Bible.

All I kept thinking was, I am about to be in Djibouti jail for not having money for services and then I would have to stay there because I couldn't speak their language so they wouldn't be able to understand me when I requested my one phone call. Then who was I going to call, because my parents don't pick up their phone... The bright side was my mug shot would be cute since my hair was freshly done. Yes, ALL this ran through my mind in this one moment.

Finally, the braider agreed to let me write them a check. Even still, Kadra and the hair braider continued arguing. Not sure why, but I guess Kadra was slightly embarassed because she was my translator/guide and recommended this lady. After all, everything I did at this point was with 100% trust in her since I haven't mastered the translation of money nor the language. I felt helpless, but as long as the end resulted in my hair being fixed, I didn't care much.

When I got home at 3 am, I found a lizard in my shoes! I was so proud of myself for not yelling and instead I just jumped on the bed until I gained my composure. I chuckled as I thought of all that I went through today. I didn't even tell you about me tripping down the stairs in my villa. But it never fails, if there are stairs, I will fall down or UP them.

And I failed to mention that I had a taste of Djibouti water. Kadra made me take a sip while I was getting my hair braided and I was so hungry and thirsty that I briefly lost my mind. But that one sip brought me back to my senses. The water was so heavy and salty and plain ol' disgusting! It even smelt bad! It took me forever to swallow the sip and everyone in the shop kept staring at me as if I was the one with a problem. Please...

I was originally supposed to get a cell phone today, but once Kadra promised me a hair appointment everything else went out the window, including unpacking. Let's see what tomorrow brings.