Ely, the hairdresser

Ely the hairdresser, La Ceiba, Honduras

This is Ely, my hairdresser. She's a funny lady and gives a good haircut. She is very detailed, snip, snip, snipping precisely, checking and resnipping again when needed. She has a great smile but kept trying to hold it back for the photo.

The first time I had a haircut in La Ceiba, my hair was cut in about 4 strokes of the scissors leaving me with hair a full inch and a half longer on one side, which I didn't realize until I got home.

Being gun shy after that, I didn't get a haircut for a long time. I even talked El Jefe into cutting it one time! How's that for desperation? It was a disaster which his sister then came to fix for me as I was embarrassed to leave the house.

After I decided that I couldn't bear long hair any more in this heat, a neighbor took me to Ely's salon and I've been going there ever since.

Last week, after my shampoo, she began combing my hair and said, "Esta pintado." (It is tinted/colored.) Pintado (painted) or tintado (colored) are both words sometimes used to indicate dyed hair. I said, "No, no esta pintado." She laughed and said, "No. Esta pintado con pintura anaranjada! Je je je!" (No, it is painted with orange paint! Ha ha ha!). Then she began to scrape the latex wall paint out of my hair. Oops, I thought I had gotten it all out.

I enjoy talking to Ely, even though half of our conversations are me saying, "Perdon?" (Pardon me?) and her saying, "Hah?" (Huh?) She's good at finding another word if I don't understand the one she is using, instead of repeating the same word louder and louder each time as if my problem is deafness.

I usually don't even mind if I have to wait awhile at Ely's because the salon is a pretty wild place with people coming and going, telling stories which I try to eavesdrop on, and kids running around acting silly. The above photo is of Ely's adorable niece.

Since hairdressers often know a lot about what is going on, just like in the U.S., I always mention that I'm looking for an empleada domestica (household worker) and she always says she doesn't know anyone who wants to work. I even asked the shampoo lady this time. She doesn't know anyone who wants to work either.

I asked Ely if I could take her picture to put it on my blog and tell about her salon. She said, "Oh, my hair looks terrible," and rushed to put on some lipstick and straighten her hair.

After I took some photos, she checked them out, liking the top photo the best. She laughingly said, "Tell them to come to my salon....and tell them I'm single!" See, I told you she was funny.

If you need a haircut in La Ceiba, check out Ely's salon, Salon de Belleza Dianaely, on the main street going into Colonia El Sauce. I think that she is generally open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., but I've seen her there as late as 7 p.m. sometimes. Her phone number is 440-0320.

No, I don't get a kickback, but be sure to tell her that La Gringa sent you anyway. I told her that "La Gringa" is my secret internet identity.