I have been living up to the stereotypical Peace Corps image and letting my hair and beard grow long and mangy. For the majority of my life I have stuck with the short jock-style haircuts. A short buzz that never sprouts longer than an inch. I liked the low maintenance/low worry style of short hair. About a year ago, I decided to take a new path for my hairdo and let it flow. My hair is now stretching down towards my shoulders and flopping in my face.
While the hair is often problematic and takes some work to keep it under control, there are some fun advantages to having long hair. The best and worst part of my long hair is the constant experimentation with harnessing its wild strands and fashioning into a controllable style. Hats are an easy way to contain my mane of salty brown hair, but I have also learned some new ways to play with accessories on my head. Sometimes I rock the half-ponytail/samurai topknot look. Other times I loop a thin headband around the top and look like a Spanish soccer player. I’ve tried the double braided Pippy Long Stocking technique. I can also slick it back and do a good impression of a 50’s greaser. Just recently I have enough length to cinch it back into a customary ponytail and blend in with the girls. The options are endless, but none of them feel very natural.
My favorite zany hairstyle has been tightly braiding my hair into cornrows. This gangster look is quite popular here in Chuuk and I get jealous praise from all the locals each time that I do it. The style is called cornrows in America because the lines of hair resemble cornrows. Well there is no corn in Chuuk, so they came up with their own unique names to characterize the different styles. There is the nipach (octopus), the bunkin (pumpkin), and my personal favorite the senco (mosquito coil).
When I return to America I will most likely chop off my raggedy mop of hair and return to normalcy, but it has been an interesting hairdressing experience to play with my tropical locks.
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