Nayman!

I’d always thought Lebanese women had great hair (in fact, I have hair jealousy). Recently I’ve understood how, but I want to share the full experience. Let me begin by communicating to you that one’s appearance is not something to be taken lightly in Lebanon. I knew before I came that LAU students were fashionable, but I did not know that I would feel ashamed to wear jeans and a t-shirt. I am still baffled to see young ladies walking across campus in 4 inch heels and I know I stick out awkwardly with my little, cheap red backpack amidst trendy, designer bags.

Recently I was having coffee with one of my friends in Younes, she was going on a date the next day and wanted to get her “hair-brushed.” So I invited myself to go with her.

The beauty lounge is deliberately located right across from the main entrance of LAU campus. I entered and got in-line without an appointment, sat down on plush cushions in a little nook-in-the-wall, overlooking a large but cozy room of young ladies getting their nails polished, make-up done and hair cut (down stairs, eyebrows etc…).

As I sat and waited I observed girls relaxing, girls studying, girls drinking soda, girls chatting, all the while, being pampered in some fashion. If she needs to check here email, if she needs to send in an assignment, no problem because Cherry (the lounge) has wireless (never had I seen a girl search the web while having her hair dried). One in much hurry ran in to her friend,an employee there, and with his hair drier he combed her bangs, laying them perfectly on the side of her face, and in 2 minutes she was ready for the day.

When it was my turn I was asked “straight or curly” and he went at it. 20 minutes later my hair looked great. He said, as I expected, the word that you say (in Lebanon) when someone gets a hair-cut, has shaved or cut his facial hair or in my case, a “hair-brushing:” “nayman.” I really don’t know the translation of the word, only the appropriate place to say it. There is a response, but it’s too long to remember (I know, I’m such a good learner).

I was simply excited because cultural experiences in Hamra, Beirut are hard to come by, and from what I know, a hair-brushing is a weekly occurrence.