Black women and their hair

In preparing to come to Mali, as a Black woman, one of things I had a concern about is what I would do with my hair for the next two years. However, my mom reminded me that I was going to the Motherland and there would be people who could do my hair. But, the richness in nappy hair knowledge and creativity is nowhere near thhe level that I expected here in Mali. I've only seen five basic styles here: varying styles of cornrows, extension braids, sew-ins and those nubian ball-things. The other day, I unbraided my hair and let it hang loose. I thought it looked cute, but my sisters were saying I looked like a crazy woman. But, I've learned that the concept of beauty here is still heavily chained by the European mindset. Whereas in America, Black women are breaking those chains and reclaiming their roots; learning how to maintain their natural hair and seeing the true beauty in African hair. So, as soon as I was done unbraiding, the first thing my sisters asked me is "What am I going to do with my hair?" and "Who's going to re-braid it?" I thought it looked cute, I even took a picture. My brothers looked at my hair in awe and they called me, Janet Jackson (Hahaha!), I took that as a compliment. However, my sister, Adama, could not have a crazy looking American on her hands, so she called up her hair braiding-friend in Bamako and set a date for the next day. There were other women getting their hair braided at her friend's house and when I walked in they all stared in awe at my hair and they asked me why I don't get it relaxed. What they don't know is that for years, my hair was relaxed until just about a year ago and it hasn't felt heat in about 3 months and I'm loving my natural hair! I asked my sister if she likes her natural hair, she said yes. I then proceeded to ask why she wears synthetic hair, and she said because it's long and pretty. I asked her if she thought her natural hair was pretty, she said yes, but she prefers the synthetic hair. I then asked two other woman the same thing and I got the same response. I know it's going to take a long time, but I hope that one day, my African sisters will accept their hair and take pride in it.