I've had some friends here visiting me the past 2 weeks, but they are returning home soon and so we decided to go and do the traditional Sandbox thing and get henna done. It is customary to get it done just before you travel or when you are getting married...really just any time that you want to. For those of you who don't know what henna is, it's actually a hair dye that is extremely poisonous, but they use to stain their skin, sort of like a tattoo, and it wears away after about a month. I only had one foot done, but there are certain things that signify certain occasions. For instance, getting it done from the hands to the shoulders and from the bottom's of the feet to above the knees, plus dipping fingernails and toenails in it signifies that you are a brand new bride. Then after they are married, they keep their nails and the bottoms of their feet covered in it. It's normally just for women, however, men have it done for their own weddings as well, so you automatically know when you see someone who is a newlywed.Check out the intricate details. You
would think that the lady would need a stencil but she didn'tuse one. She just used a bag, sort of like you would use a ziploc bag and then cut the corner of it to ice a cake. It took her less than 5 minutes to do mine. What's fun is that after she's finished you have to let it dry for 30 minutes without touching anything. So just imagine the 3 of us sprawled out in chairs and on couches in this 'beauty parlor' (if that's what you want to call it) for 30 minutes. One of my friends had it done all the way up both of her arms, so she had to hold them in the air for that long. And this stuff permanently stains anything that it touches, so it's pretty important that you keep it away from everything while it's drying. I'm sure that the ladies had quite a good laugh watching the white girls so uncomfortably and precariously perched! Overall it was a good experience and my friends got to do something totally cultural before they go home. Plus it's a great conversation starter since we're foreigners walking around with a Sandbox tradition painted on us.
