One of the first things I noticed about Sana'a is the insane number of barber shops you see. They are everywhere, on every block, sometimes three in a row, one after another. And there's always someone in every one of them, getting a trim or a shave.
Apparently there's more to this than meets the eye, and I'm determined to get to the bottom of it. I've heard there are Syrian barbers, Iraqi barbers, even Turkish, Palestinian, Indian and Ethiopian barbers. The prices and services offered in each one vary widely. I want to know more!
I heard a story last night of a Palestinian barber who noticed a very well-dressed Yemeni man walk in to his shop. He was wearing a nice suit, nice shirt, nice tie. Best dressed Yemeni man I've seen, thought the barber. But when he sat down, the barber noticed the man was barefoot.
"I'm curious," the barber asked. "You are wearing very nice clothes, but I see you are not wearing any shoes. Why is that?"
"Oh, it's because I live very near here," the Yemeni man replied.
Someone else told me about going to a new barber shop and getting a very good haircut. Pleased with the results, he went back again a few weeks later, but this time got a very bad haircut. It was very uneven and he had to keep cutting it shorter and shorter just to get the two sides to line up.
"What happened to the guy?" I asked.
"The two barbers who work there are identical twins," was the answer.
Apparently they share the same features, but not the same barbering skills! Beware the evil twin.
Stay tuned. There are sure to be more barber shop stories to follow.
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