Unheard of during the reign of Saddam Hussein and unthinkable during years of violence, an unlikely innovation is slowly being rolled out in Baghdad by Iraqis returning from overseas: the one-stop beauty center. Three decades of instability – from wars with Iran, Kuwait and the U.S.-led invasion, to 13 years of sanctions and an embargo, and a sectarian war in which thousands died – all but ruled out leisure activities for women, including trips to a beauty salon.
在海珊統治時期聞所未聞，而在歷經多年暴亂後更是令人難以想像，從海外返國的伊拉克人，慢慢在巴格達推出一種不可能的創新事業：一步到位的美容中心。30年的動盪不安，從對伊朗、科威特的戰爭和以美國為首的聯軍入侵，到13年的制裁禁運，乃至於宗派鬥爭導致成千上萬人死亡，已使婦女摒棄一切休閒活動，包括上美容院。
But Ali Bulbul, armed with 30 years' experience doing make-up for television broadcasters, is determined to change all that. The 51-year-old left the country in 1990, after Saddam Hussein invaded neighboring Kuwait. Having returned for good in 2005, he began working again as a makeup artist for state broadcaster Iraqiya TV.
但巴爾布憑著在電視台當化妝師30年的經驗，決心改變這一切。51歲的他於1990年海珊入侵鄰國科威特後離開伊拉克，2005年返國永久定居，一開始他仍為國營的伊拉克電視台當化妝師。
In early September, he and an associate opened Specialized Beauty Center on Abu Nawas street along the Tigris river in the center of Baghdad. It is there that Bulbul aims to offer a single-point attraction for the city's privileged upper classes. The center features skincare and body treatments, a sauna and jacuzzi, yoga and aerobic classes, the last two of which are virtually unprecedented in Iraq. In addition, there is a gym outfitted with shining, new exercise equipment and a weight loss center, nail salon, tattoo parlor, and a makeup and hair salon.
9月初，他和一位同事在巴格達市中心底格里斯河畔的阿布紐瓦斯街開了一家專業美容中心。巴爾布打算在這裡提供首善之區特權上層階級一應俱全的美容服務。該中心有護膚和身體保養、三溫暖和按摩浴池，以及在伊拉克幾乎前所未見的瑜伽和有氧課程。此外，還有個健身房，裡面新的健身器材閃閃發亮，外加減肥中心、美甲沙龍、刺青店和美妝美髮沙龍。
He has been relying largely on word-of-mouth advertising but has also distributed flyers in the neighborhood around the center. For now, the handful of clients are mostly housewives, but men also attend on the two days a week reserved exclusively for male customers. “We are more comfortable now,” said Farah Saad, a 27-year-old mother of two. ”We can go out and wear anything we want – we used to put on scarves, but not now. We are exploring life more and more.”
他主要靠口碑招徠客人，但也會在美容中心附近發傳單。目前少數客人大半是家庭主婦，但男人也會在一星期專為男性顧客保留的2天上門。有2個子女的27歲媽媽法拉．沙德說：「現在我們自在多了，我們出門想穿什麼就穿什麼。過去我們要戴頭巾，現在已經不用了。我們更加努力探索生命。」
A pre-wedding hair and make-up session costs $300, while a subscription to the center's gym and jacuzzi is $100 per month, both of which are expensive in a country where the official rate of poverty is 23 percent. Bulbul wants to expand the center to include a swimming pool.
婚禮前的套裝新娘梳妝要價300美元（約台幣9050元），定期使用美容中心的健身房和按摩浴池每月100美元，這兩項在官方貧困率達23％的伊拉克算很昂貴。巴爾布希望能擴建美容中心，再加蓋一個游泳池。
He said that while he could have stayed overseas he preferred instead to return to his homeland. “Iraqis are always homesick. The social ties here are very strong. I always had the idea of opening a wellness center in Baghdad, both before and after the fall of the regime [of now-executed dictator Saddam Hussein]. But I had to delay the idea because of the bad security situation.”
他說雖然可以留在海外，但寧可返鄉：「伊拉克人常常想家，我們的社會關係很牢固。我一直有個構想，在（現已被處決的獨裁者海珊）政權垮台前後，我都曾想要在巴格達開一家健身中心，但因治安很差，遲遲無法實現。」
During the insurgency and sectarian war that raged across Iraq in the years following the U.S.-led 2003 invasion, tens of thousands of people were killed. Religious extremists in particular targeted hairdressers, most of whom closed their shops in fear. Women, few of whom were veiled pre-2003, were suddenly forced to cover their skin and stay at home.
2003年以美國為首的聯軍入侵伊拉克，之後各地叛亂及宗派鬥爭肆虐多年，成千上萬人喪命。宗教極端分子特別把目標鎖定美髮師，大部分店家在恐懼中關門。2003年前很少婦女披戴面紗，但之後她們突然被迫包覆肌膚，足不出戶。
Violence has dropped dramatically since that period, but attacks are still common and Baghdad remains one of the world's most dangerous cities. Janna al-Baaj, who runs the part of the wellness center dedicated to hair and makeup, fled Iraq in 2006, initially for Jordan and then other countries in the region, after receiving death threats.
從那時起暴力大幅下降，但攻擊仍時常發生，巴格達仍是世界上最危險的城市之一。負責管理健康中心美髮美妝部門的珍娜．艾巴吉受到死亡威脅後，於2006年逃離伊拉克，先到約旦，再到該區其他國家。
Many Iraqi women look to Lebanon as an inspiration for beauty ideals in the Arab world. When Iraqis refer to idols of beauty, health care and fitness, they refer to Lebanon. “The Iraqi women deserve to be pampered like those in the Gulf or Lebanese woman,” said Zeena Rashid, the manager of al-Shabakah's gym, where customers run on treadmills. “They deserve that, after all the hardship they have been through.”
很多伊拉克婦女奉黎巴嫩為阿拉伯世界美的指標。當伊拉克人提起美麗、健康、身材火辣的偶像時，多半指黎巴嫩人。在沙巴卡健身房中，客人正在跑步機上跑步，經理吉娜．拉希德說：「伊拉克婦女應該像波斯灣或黎巴嫩的婦女那樣，可以養尊處優。在經過種種痛苦後，這是她們應得的。」
In this photo an Iraqi woman gets her make-up done at a newly-opened beauty and fitness center in Baghdad. Beauty centers and gyms are slowly spreading across Baghdad with security in the Iraqi capital improving, attracting women as well as men.
這張照片中，一名伊拉克婦女在巴格達新開幕的美容健身中心化美美的妝。隨著伊拉克首都治安改善，吸引更多俊男美女上門，美容中心和健身房正在巴格達慢慢擴增。（法新社）