Churros

You are probably thinking about delicious fried bread covered in brown and white sugar filled with chocolate, the melt in your mouth goodness, right? Wrong. Churros—the word I had been battling against the first day I wore a pony tail to the horror of my host mom Shirma.  Churros are curls or in my case a perm. Remember how I was supposed to say yes to everything while in Ecuador with the exception of life threatening adventures? Well I finally caved and told my mom to make an appointment for me to get churros my last week with her, she was so happy it was like I told her she had just won the lotto. The whole process of getting a perm was traumatic. My entire had was wrapped into these white strappy things that hurt  and than they were attacked with a chemical that smelled of rotten eggs and gas to than be covered by aluminum foil.

The pros of churros: I do not need to brush my hair; it is actually bad for my hair! I do not need to shampoo my hair or condition it on a regular basis! People here think I’m black. Churros are also super easy to maintain, I just get my hair wet a little each day and put some magical yummy smelling goop in my hair and go on my way. This means that the 30 minutes I would have needed to blow dry and straighten my hair has now become sleepy time.

The cons of churros: If I forget to put in my curl cream I risk looking like a poof ball. I also have this fear of getting a giant knot from never brushing my hair. Another thing, “the between perms phase” means I look like I was just electrocuted. I don’t look like my passport picture and I now have this weird fear of not being allowed in to the States.

My mama Shirma was so happy with the finished product known as my hair she cried, like real tears coming down her cheeks. She also feared letting me out of the house with my new locks—because churros drive the men wild, her words not mine. Looking back, was it worth it? Yes! Hair is hair, it grows, turns gray, and eventually falls out. In the end is this perm business something I will maintain? Heck no! As much as I love these churros I kinda miss the hassle of my straight hair and I feel as if I have traumatized it with all these foreign chemicals, so for now I’m going to try and nurse my hair back to its unmanageable glorious mess that it once was.