Top 11 Moments of 2011: Number 11

When I look back on 2011 I will only have to think of one thing: Africa! Years and years will pass but I will always remember that I spent the ENTIRE year of 2011 in Africa. That is pretty amazing to think about and not many people can say that.

So as a tribute to 2011 I wanted to bring you the top 11 moments I had in 2011. Starting with Number 11: 

Undreading My Hair!

Before Peace Corps there had been a time where I had thought about dreading my hair. I thought it looked cool and I wanted to be one of those girls who could rock dreads and look fabulous! I don't know call it the hippie in me, but I wanted dreads! Getting dreads it not something to take lightly. It's a process and once you have them they take a lot of upkeep. There is also the social aspect to having dreads. Some work places or future employers want their employees to have a nice clean crisp look to them. So having dreads is out of the question if you want to work in some of the professional environments. There are plenty of places that will hire you but it does make getting a job more difficult. Plus you have to deal with  lots of questions about why you did this to your hair and how long did it take etc. 

My inspirations for wanting dreads

So when I joined the Peace Corps this longing to have dreads went from just an idea to a viable option. In Botswana most women have wigs, braids, or dreads. So dreading my hair wouldn't be a problem in the professional sense. So I decided to do it! When else in my life would I have this opportunity?


During my In-Service Training another volunteer spent three days in-between sessions, dreading my hair. I was so excited to finally have dreads! And I thought they looked pretty good. As the weeks went on I soon found out how much work it was to upkeep my dreads. After awhile I got tired of waxing and rolling them and just kind of let them do whatever they wanted. They still didn't look too bad but were pretty messy.

starting the process

Finished product

Styled

After having dreads for over a year I started to thinking about home. I decided I probably wouldn't want my dreads when I got back to the states, especially since they weren't very nice looking. Now there are two ways to get rid of dreads. There's the easy way where you can just chop them off and rock the shaved/short hair look OR there's the second option of deep conditioning and slowly combing them out.

Some Progress of the Dreads Pictures (1 month)

3 months

9 months

 Around August, I decided that if I was going to get rid of my dreads I would need to do it sooner rather than later. Combing them out was going to be a long process and if that didn't work I would have to cut them off which meant having really short hair. I personally don't like having short hair so I was hoping I would be able to brush them out. Either way I was still going to lose a lot of hair or have a lot of damaged hair, so I needed to do it soon so I would have time to grow back my healthy curls.

So the process began. I usually worked on combing out my dreads during the weekends. I would do about 3 a night while I was watching a movie. It took about an hour for each dread with a lot of leave-in conditioner and detangler. I also went through a lot of combs! Luckily Mom had sent me a wide variety to choose from. But after a few months I no longer had any dreads! My friend Marina then took me to get my hair cut, which was super nice of her. The guy who cut my hair was surprised that I had even had dreads. He said my hair really wasn't all that damaged, guess the not rolling and waxing (maintenance) was good and made my hair less damaged and probably easier to comb out. It felt great to have my hair back. It is nice be able to run my fingers through my hair again. 

Tools used to comb my dreads out

One down..only 39 more to go...

6 out..starting to get my hair back

Half out...almost looks like I have none

Only 4 more to go! Soo frizzy! haha

Some of the hair I lost :( kinda gross

All gone! Now it's time for some deep conditioning and a hair cut!

New hair cut! Feels good to have my normal hair back :)

And there you have it no more dreads! Check in tomorrow for moment number 10!