A Manicure in a Foreign Language
Photo credit @Erin Deborah Waks
By Erin Deborah Waks
Along with learning a new language come many rites of passage. The first time you learn to string together a full sentence, the first time you communicate with a native speaker and - the holy grail - actually moving to a country where said language is spoken. Might I propose, however, a far superior and inordinately more stressful experience to the list? That is, of course, getting a manicure in a different language.
I don’t know if everyone feels the same way, but personally I find visiting nail salons in the UK to be a particularly anxiety-provoking activity. There’s the panic of miscommunication, the discomfort of changing your mind once the manicurist has already finished painting one hand, and the judgement that sees to permeate the shiny, varnish-laden walls. Everyone lives in fear of being told their poorly-kept nails are the reason they don’t have a boyfriend, as elucidates Anjelah Johnson in her now-famous sketch revealing the true universal experience in these salons.
So, armed with a camera roll full of pictures of exactly what I wanted, I made my way to a nail salon in Agdal, Rabat, after spending a little time deciding which establishment to frequent. And a good choice I made.
Not only did the ladies their do my nails perfectly (not always a given), but the welcoming kindness in the salon where I was clearly the only non-Moroccan was a welcome surprise. Well, not a surprise per se, as I’ve been here long enough now to note Moroccan hospitality is famous for a reason, but welcome indeed. Through broken Darija with a sprinkling of French, I managed to get exactly what I wanted for less than a third of what I would pay in London.
My well-rehearsed speech was met with a smile and a nod, and despite my evident foreign-ness, the owner respected my desire to converse in her language, not mine. Not always a sure-fire thing, as anyone who has ever learnt a foreign language will know. So do yourself a favour and bite the bullet - have a manicure in a foreign language.
