Ear Torching 101

When Hunt travels abroad where his language skills are limited, he generally looks up a few key phrases in advance like “Is this a ukulele free zone?” or “I do not wish to donate a kidney.” I, on the other hand, never look anything up in advance and rely heavily on increased voice levels and my incredible pantomime skills.

Sometimes this backfires like when I needed to purchase ground beef at a butcher shop in Germany and did not know how to ask. I won't describe what happened next, but for the following 7 months the proprietress “moo'ed” every time I walked in, then turned to the other customers and said something in rapid-fire German as she made little “horns” with her index fingers, a gesture that is apparently NOT the universal sign for ground beef.

It took us just over 25 hours to get from our home in Sherman, TX, to our hotel in Ankara, Turkey. And in 25 hours you'd think Hunt would have taken the time to look up all the phrases he might need for our first evening in Ankara. 

But he didn't. So when we stopped at a late-night barbershop for a Turkish haircut, was it fair to expect me to pantomime “just a little off the sides”? I think not. Those things have to be looked up. I was, however, able to communicate “May I take pictures of your cutting my husband's hair?” and “Yes, I would enjoy a cup of tea as I watch Turkish television.” I do have resources. If you ask the right questions.

So Hunt simply got the haircut he got. And because this is Turkey, and because Turkish barbers are artists, Hunt got a terrific haircut, no thanks to me. The barber used 4 different clippers, a blow dryer, 2 round brushes, a comb, scissors, a razor, and lighter fluid. (I am not kidding about the lighter fluid.) The barber also combed cotton balls into tufts, sprayed them with water, and used them to collect all errant hair. VERY cool. But the pièce de resistance was the unusual process of burning the hair from inside Hunt's ears. I like to call this process Ear Torching. And you may quote me.

Ear Torching is fun to watch, both the delicate burning process and Hunt's delicate facial expressions.

Step One: Wrap a cotton ball around the tips of a pair of scissors.

Step Two: Drench cotton with lighter fluid or other incendiary.

Step Three: Light the cotton.

Step Four: Briefly place burning scissors next to ear canal.

Step Five: Remove scissors and pat ears with palm of hand to snuff out errant burning ear hair.

Step Six: Repeat Steps Four and Five until all hair is gone or customer is unconscious.

Step Seven: Wipe outside of ears with cotton ball dampened with alcohol to remove soot.

Step Eight: Replenish Karen's tea. Revive Hunt.

What a first evening. Beautiful hotel. Delicious, warm Turkish meal. Brisk stroll in the capital city. And a haircut. Next time, though, I will take my phrase book because pantomiming “a little off the sides and torch the ears” is harder than it sounds. But it is possible.