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One thing that is awesome about the Caribbean is the hair.
Think about it for a second, growing up in Asia, US, or Europe with black-a-nese curls, and friends with stick straight (or wavy) hair. Believe me! My dad did not teach me how to corn-row my hair. Hence my hair was in two big braids until I graduated high school and chopped most of it off. Thereafter it was in a pony tail and then during professional school, it was in a small little fro.
First of all, I did not know that I could brush my hair while it is dry. I thought it would instantly tangle if I touched it throughout the day.
But enough about me.
The people down here have the awesomest do's: poufs, plats (corn rows), twists. I would like to learn how to do hair before I leave this island. I have been experimenting with my own, but the going is slow. . .
The first pic is of something I got done by a co-worker.
On Saturday afternoons, it is common to see a group of girls sitting out by the side of the road, or on a porch, just chattin' away and doing each other's hair for Sunday's church service, or designing a hair-do for the week. It is definitely a culture, and one that I will miss.
With my length of hair and depending on how well it is kept (I was told mine was pretty damaged :p), the hair-dos took about 3-4 hours, phew! If you want tiny-tiny braids (microbraids), I have seen ladies return for a second visit the next day. And it is not uncommon for you to see a woman walking down the street with her hair half-done!!
The Caribbean is a place where do-rags are an every-day occurrence. They really do help you keep your style longer. When I got this second do--a fro-hawk, I followed some advice and wrapped my hair in a silk scarf, then tucked that under a do-rag to keep my hair tight to my head at night. The style kept for 2-3 weeks, over which time I slowly undid the mo-hawk on top. This gave me 3 styles out of the same hair-do. One up in the mo-hawk, one with the front braids loose in my face, and the third with all the braids loose, for a messy Caribbean look.
It is certainly a lot of fun, and I recommend the experience-something around $15 USD could get you these styles! :D
