becoming (a) regular: haircuts 2

Ayden-best barber in Hawiyah

on the continuing tick-list of lasts, a final haircut.

last night was my last trip to 'saloon rawayee'  home to my barber 

of three years, ayden.  i was  greeted with the customary tea 

and exchange of  greetings over the top of the customer he was 

cutting.  this has been a ritual that i have always appreciated.  

i speak very little arabic and almost no turkish, but with a 

turkish-english dictionary and lots of context-based guessing, 

we communicated like every good barber-customer.

Saloon Rawayee

i remember the first time i went to his shop.  i walked in, badly needing a haircut.  a different barber directed me to a seat and i was soon greeted by a shortish fellow with a mullet and a handle bar mustache-and no irony-i knew i was going to like the guy.  it took two more visits to learn his name, and after i was a regular.  we talked about our families, life in saudi and what we wanted for the future.  when he finished my cut, he would always pull me to his computer and would either have me chat with his son in turkey, see pictures of his grandson or show me what was up on his facebook account.  a barber shop is a cathartic place, a place to share, vent and clear ones mind.  this place definitely was that for me.