Corn-rowin’ and LICE

Okay, in my 26 years of existence I have never ever had lice. So I was not even really sure what they look like. Which is why when I was corn-rowing a little afro-mestizo girl’s (Guadalupe) hair I was oblivious to the nits that I saw. [about a few hundred years ago there was a slave trade ship that wrecked off the coast of mexico. they settled in Mexico and intermarried with the indigenous Mexicans and the mestizos (which is Spanish -Indigenous people) so there are Mexicans that are of this African descent that have coarser hair and have more African features, which is why I was corning-rowing the little girl's hair. The do not keep it in braids like some African Americans do in the States or even use hair dressing. I used some scented hand cream to make the braiding a little easier.] When someone finally told me she had lice, I was a little grossed out but did want to hurt her feelings by not finishing. So I finished, even though my scalp was just about crawling and I was on the verge of hysteria from wanting to scratch it.

After I finished, she looked absolutely beautiful. Prior to attending to her hair, it was unkempt and knotted so badly it took me twice as long just to comb it out. The look of admiration she gave herself as she peered into the mirror made it more than worth the possible lice contraction I was partially dreading.

At the advice of a very wise Auntie, I slapped about half a tube of Vaseline in my hair and put a plastic bag over it and slept with it on my head all night. I also found out my hair does interesting things when Vaseline is in it. The point was that the lice would not be able to lay eggs and thus I would avoid lice infestation. In the morning all was well and my head was not itchy at all and I was unable to detect any lice or nits.

However the Vaseline would not wash out until almost a week later. Everytime I would lean my head up against anything I would live a huge stain or Vaseline slick. But it was definitely worth not getting lice and not having to use a harsh chemical shampoo, and seeing that Guadalupe was very pleased at the way she looked was definitely worth it.