Harlem Hair

Leave it to Elizabeth to put a little "culture" in my life. Since I rarely travel much higher than East 80th Street, visiting my Birmingham buddy who lives on 125th Street (on the West side, no less!), is quite an adventure. Just a few blocks from the Apollo Theater, I never know what I'm going to see on the streets when I exit the subway.

And I wasn't prepared for what I saw today! Elizabeth, whose hair hasn't touched her shoulders since college, was getting long braids, aka "a weave". I arrived to the process a bit late, getting there at 5 PM; Elizabeth had been there since 11 AM! However, I was there in time to see a few braids greased and twisted into her hair, and see the steaming hot water bowl - and Elizabeth's saucer-wide eyes when she realized they planned to dip the ends of the braids in it, oh so close to her bare shoulders!

Sadly, the braids didn't last a fraction of the time my memories of putting them in will - after four days of suffering through a New York City heat wave made even hotter by a foreign head of hair, a few snips of the scissors sent Elizabeth's Harlem hair down the drain. Or the toilet. Or the trash can - or wherever you put that stuff so it doesn't come back!

Sometimes two, sometimes three people worked on her hair. I've never seen hands move so fast to make braids!

If you're going to get braids, might as well get them in authentic Harlem.

Going out on the town - the braids really looked great on her...and I felt so plain with only a ponytail!