July 11 2010

A day in Harlem.

We take the train up to 125th Street and walk up to Sylvia's, the famous soul food place on Lenox Ave and 127th St.

A boy was having lunch with his family. His mom thought he'd be scared...when he turned around and saw me he giggled with excitement and offered me some of his french fries.

On to The Apollo Theatre. I got on a tourist bus and got a lot of smiles. My own "Showtime at the Apollo!"

At the African market I saw beautiful African masks and approached them to say hello. The salesman was very angry and started screaming at Cecile behind the camera. "No photos! No filming!"

I met two ladies in large hats leaving church. Beautiful flowery hats and lace dresses!

I feel very plain in comparison.

We head towards Spanish Harlem. On our way we explore a subway over pass, a tunnel and meet a very fat girl on a pink barbie tractor! We cross 110th Street and walk down to 103rd St. We end the day at a Mexican restaurant - full of impressions!

It's interesting how people you least expect to be are completely open minded and love me while people I thought would be intrigued by the mask are completely indifferent or even annoyed with me!

Ingrid Kullberg-Bendz