Being an African girl ,I know what it means to have bad -hair days or days when you wish that you had nice "white " hair so that you could copy the hairstyles that the stars you see in Star magazine flaunt.So,in order to have that killer bob that Rihanna has been sporting ,we have to get our hair weaved or sometimes braided.That means getting on a bus or the train and heading to Hairbraiding central:Harlem.I had never actually been to Harlem before ,as my friends usually did my hair,but due to them having busy schedules,I had to make the trip to 125th street.
Two seconds after we got out of the car ,we were approached by various women asking "hair braiding ,madam?".We ended up following a west-african woman to her saloon .We walked into what looked like a workstation with about 15 african french-speaking women ,some of whom were braiding or weaving other customers hair.
The lady who would be doing our hair asked how much we wanted to pay ,which to me seemed like she wanted us to mention a high price since we really didn't know the range.
I was in that salon/makeshift house (according to me) for a long time and I witnessed people of almost every race coming in to sell things ranging from books to bedsheets,food,toys ,jewellery (probably stolen).All the while ,the women alternated between gossiping about each other and customers in french,eating ,talking on their cellphones and actually doing hair .
By the time I was done,I had nice new braids and I thought about how that experience was like watching the African version of the Barbershop movie.
