My Spanish skills are not bad. I studied for a while before arriving in México, and I continue to work with a grammar workbook, read books in Spanish, watch Spanish-language television shows, and practice in daily life. I walk along the shore of Spanish, taking it in, but occasionally taking a step and finding myself at a drop-off. I kick hard to keep my head above water, but it doesn’t always work. I make it back to shore and find that I have agreed to an overpriced hair conditioning mask, for example.
One of these places where I lack the vocabulary is the beauty salon. My language skills for hair are not up to par, and the conversation is much more casual, much more full of slang, than a meeting at the bank or a conversation with a student. Hence, I am a mark for any and all up-selling and paying about what I pay in Chicago for cuts and color.
Of course, I have an excellent deal in Chicago. I go to a salon in Lincoln Park, but it is not a fashionable salon. My hairdresser rents a char. She has three kids and works around their school schedules, so she doesn’t see clients on evenings or weekends. She could move to a higher-priced salon, but then she would lose control of her schedule and share more of her fees with the owners.
But still. She’s a great stylist, working in a big city, working in a fashionable neighborhood (if not a fashionable salon).
In Guadalajara, I followed a recommendation on an expat message board and ended up at a muy fresa (ie, very yuppie) salon. It’s a beautiful place with excellent service. They bring me wine and snacks! They give me samples of high-end products! It is expensive by Mexican standards, though. In addition, I have smiled and nodded while being asked questions by the stylist, thus finding myself getting highlights painted on strand-by-strand (which took about an hour), an intense conditioning mask, and some sort of color protection rinse. I think. All I know for sure is that my appointments take about an hour longer than they do in Chicago, the glass of wine makes me extra agreeable, and my bill ends up being about the same as it is Chicago.
México’s per-capita income in 2017 was USD $17,740 on a purchasing power parity basis. Per-capita income in the US was $60,200. Both countries have high and increasing levels of income inequality, although México is even less equal than the US. The income numbers would imply that prices are about a third of what they are in the US, but I am finding that most items cost about half as much – a bargain for me, but not for the average person in México. Avocados are way cheaper here than in the US. I can buy Metrogel, a treatment for acne rosacea, for about what my co-pay would cost at home, but I can ask for it at the pharmacy counter and thus avoid all the cost and rigamarole of getting a prescription from the dermatologist.
About the only thing that costs more here is clothing at Old Navy. They have pants that are long enough for me. But here, Old Navy isn’t positioned as a discount store with zillions of bargain-priced dresses.
I still find myself comparison shopping here, even though most prices are less than in the US. Old habits die hard, you know? I figured out that I can save 30% on movie tickets buy getting them in advance, avocados are cheaper at street markets than at the grocery store, and the bus is way cheaper than Uber (even if it is nearly impossible to figure out,) I am who I am. At the same time, the differences in standards of living mean that what is cheap for me isn’t cheap for most people here. In fact, one of the things that most expats notice is how much cheaper the cost of household help is. My landlord provides cleaning twice a week, and the wash and fold service at the local laundry is cheaper than most laundromats in the US, even before considering such things as waiting time and bringing your own detergent. The low wages are a source of the low standard of living, and make the cost of my hairdos stand out even more.
Oh, well. It’s fun to go to a fancy salon, get a glass of wine, and figure out the use of the subjunctive when making inquiries about add-on services.
