My Sassy, Italian Hair Cut

Friday, 7/16/10

 My boyfriend, Don, misses me. We had a nice talk on the phone last night. He actually had a good belly-laugh when I told him about the lack of water I mentioned in my last post. Not because my situation was funny, but because it reminded him of some earlier life experiences of his own when he was a young man in the U.S. Navy.

 I guess these crises always seem lighter in retrospect. The water was out in the entire city of Castellammare di Stabia, not just in our hotel. When I woke up this morning, the water was flowing again, and all was well in the world. At least for me. The neighbors, Ryan and Alan, still have issues with their bathroom, including an ungodly stench and flies buzzing around in the bathroom all night. The source of the insects is uncertain, but possibly from the pipes. Anyway, my friends are not happy, and the hotel has not been able or perhaps willing to put them in another room. If necessary a couple of women in the group who have single rooms will double up and let Alan and Ryan have a better room. Time will tell.

 The hotel eventually resolved the above by moving Ryan and Alan into a more comfortable room. It took about 24 hours but they did it.

 Alan (Pagan is his last name) gave a presentation this morning about the ancient mystery-cult of the god Mithras. It was the best presentation on mystery-cults and Mithraism I have ever seen in my life. How Alan could have given such a great presentation after the lack of sleep he got last night, I don't know, but he was wonderful.

 Now our group has this afternoon and all of tomorrow off. Considering how swollen my feet and ankles were at the end of the day yesterday, I do not think I will do much. I feel I need some rest more than anything else. After the shops open this afternoon, I may go down what our group calls the Death March Hill, or the D.M. The view of the sea at the top of this hill is magnificent, but the march back to the hotel from town after a day of walking around in the hot Italian sun at Capri or Herculaneum or Naples is a little tough. If I go to town I will look for more batteries for my camera and perhaps a haircut if I can get one.

 Tomorrow I may go to the Terme di Stabia for more aqua s. ferrata. My rash is practically gone and I'd like to bottle up some water to carry to Rome. I also need to pack tomorrow. In the meantime I'll either nap this afternoon or do a little research on wax tablets, or maybe both. My eyes are getting heavy as I type this. It is so nice to have a chance to rest. 

My new haircut

...... I decided to go down the DM into town after all. First on my agenda was a haircut. At the suggestion of one of the hotel employees I went to “Massimo Hair Philosophy” and asked for a cut.  Despite my limited English, Meda—I think that's the hairstylist's name-- did a great job. I will post some pictures of the cut: please remember that this was taken after the march up the hill and not fresh out of the salon, where it looked even better. The cut was a splurge for me price-wise, but I felt pampered and had some fun. The cut seems a little Italian and a little sassy somehow, definitely different from what I would get at home. I'll also look better in August when I have to rush back to work than I would if I had gone two months without a cut. After a little shopping for toiletries and camera batteries in town, I headed back up the DM.

My thanks to the National Endowment for the Humanities for making this portion of our trip possible. I paid for my own hair cut, though. :)

View from the side