Meet Nano, the salon cat.
My roommate and I spent almost the entire week knocked out of commission by our respective illnesses. In between watching the first season of Mad Men and catching up on our Oscar winners, our biggest adventure was a trip to a nearby salon.
I should have known the place was less than legit the moment we stepped into the back room and saw a large, longhaired cat seated in one of the salon chairs, beside a woman getting her eyebrows plucked. Alas, as both my roommate and I are catladies-in-the-making, we simply saw this as a sign of her benevolence and good taste.
“These are cat people,” we thought. “They must be good people.”
Well, good or bad, one thing is for sure, the white-coated salon girl knew very little about épilation, as the French call it. That word literally means “peeling,” which is exactly what that treatment felt like: as if she was peeling the skin off my legs in long strips. Unfortunately, all the pain was for naught. Robin and I left too quickly to examine the work she’d performed, but when we rolled up our pant legs later on, we saw a bounty of hairs still there and long as ever.
We retreated to our host family’s apartment defeated and depleted. I find being sick is exhausting enough when I’m at home, in my own space, but there’s something about being both a guest and an invalid that is practically impossible. From politely suffering through homemade remedies (a straight spoonful of olive oil or honey mixed with something crunchy, anyone?) to stifling late-night coughs with a pillow to refusing another helping of chicken for the millionth time, it’s enough trouble to scare me well again. And don’t get me started on communicating with the health professionals in Morocco. While the doctor may have claimed to speak English, there was definitely some sort of miscommunication going on.
Regardless, I’m well enough now and excited to be embarking on my spring break travels this weekend. More on that to come!
Also posted to The Incubator.
The Littlest Barista Abroad 
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