We spent the last two nights in Wugao, a Miao village high up in the mountains. Kelsey and I were paired together to be roommates and we did our best to get the full Miao experience. At first, our host parents seemed hesitant to meet us and forced the daughter (who is learning Mandarin in school) to converse with us.
By the end of the day, our host father was asking us to join him for dinner. I don’t know what brought about his change of heart, but Kelsey and I quickly embraced the chance to bond with our host fam. I tried to explain that we had already eaten but would still love to hang out around the dinner table, but our host father was persistent and before we knew it we were eating, drinking, and laughing together. At one point in the conversation, Kelsey and I asked about the Miao hairstyle. My host father cracked up thinking about what I would look like if my hair was fixed like the traditional Miao bun.
The next day, two Miao women offered to do my hair after breakfast. I agreed and after a lot of brushing, they succeeded in getting my tangled, curly hair into a tight bun. They even decorated it with traditional string, flowers and combs. I wore my hair like that for the rest of the day and there were definitely a few times that my fellow SoSers mistook me for a Miao villager. I think my favorite reaction came from the students when we visited the primary school. They all stared at me with a perplexed face that read something like, “Her hair looks familiar, but the rest of her doesn’t…”
After dinner, the two ladies that did my hair came to teach our SoS group how to sing and dance. Before I knew it, I was being pulled onstage to teach everyone the song. While I failed at memorizing the song lyrics, I think I succeeded in connecting with the two Miao women. It just goes to show that embracing a piece of someone else’s culture (in this case, putting my hair in a high bun for a day) can go a long way.
Okay, I’ve got to get to sleep now. I hope Kelsey talked about the dead bird in her blog post! Good night!
Best,
Alyssa (a.k.a Miao Princess)