Hairy experience (sorry, i love bad puns)

So, I've been in this country about three months now, and my Spanish is slowly but steadily improving. I still can't understand people if they're just rapidly talking to each other, but I can give directions to taxi drivers and can more or less read cooking instructions on the back of food containers. Yet I've run into a few stumbling blocks. People seem to misunderstand me, even when I think I'm speaking the language.

For example, when I first arrived here, I asked someone if they sold "cafe frio" (cold coffee). I needed my daily coffee fix, but it was really hot out, so I wanted iced coffee -- you know, Dunkin Donuts style. To my happy surprise, the guy said yes and promptly left to go get it. About 10 minutes later, he comes back with this elaborate coffee-milkshake-type of thing with chocolate syrup drizzled around the edge of an ornate glass cup and whip cream on top. Now I'm not saying it wasn't good -- because it was fantastic. But it wasn't exactly what I wanted (and it cost $5 instead of your usual 80-cent cup of coffee).

My next related experience was just about a week or two ago. I was in a bar with friends, and I wanted to order nachos. They had nachos with chicken or nachos with beef on their menu, so I went up to the bartender and pointed to the nachos on the menu but said "nachos sin carne y sin pollo -- vegetariana." Clear enough to me. I wanted nachos but without the beef or the chicken. And he asked "ensalada y fijoles?" So I said yes -- I wanted the salad toppings (lettuce and tomatoes) and beans. I even pointed to the girl next to me who was eating exactly what I was trying to order. A short while later the bartender brings me a huge garden salad with a side of refried beans and a handful of tortilla chips. Now -- again -- it was darn tasty. But it's not what I meant.

The culmination of my language barriers came this past weekend when I went to get my hair cut. I was quite proud of myself because I called the woman Saturday morning and asked to make an appointment for 2:00 that afternoon, and I did it all in Spanish. That part was successful. Then I described how I wanted my hair cut. I made a point of learning the word for layers ahead of time (capas), so I said I wanted capas largo (long layers). Perhaps the woman understood me and simply thought she knew better, but instead of long layers, I got incredibly short layers. My total hair length still goes past my shoulders, but the shortest layer is probably halfway up the back of my head. It's kind of like the Rachel haircut on Friends -- which would be cool if this were 1997. But it's not. Unlike my other experiences, I was not happy with this substitution.

So, I'm thinking I'm just going to let it grow out a bit until I'm home in December and I can explain to someone in my native tongue how to fix my hair. Until then, I'll keep practicing my Spanish.