relaxation not at it's finest

May 15, 2009

I had quite the experience today. First, let me explain what the hammam is. My town has 3 that I know of. It is the communal bathhouse. You go in, strip to your underwear, grab your soap, shampoo, a sock-like loofa thingy that can range from a smooth fabric to fabric that is almost like a brillo pad (this is used to scrub off dead skin), and a bucket or two that are provided at the entrance. You then go into the first of three rooms. This room is slightly warmer than the changing room temperature. You proceed through a second, warmer room, and finally enter the hottest of the rooms. This room is almost unbearably hot at first, but you must stay to fill your buckets water. There is a hot water tap (read: scalding hot), and a cold water tap. I prefer to go with 2 parts hot, one part cold. This is about all I can handle. Ok, second of all, let me explain that I have never had a full body massage, and that I have not been washed by another person since I was a very small child. I never thought that my first full body massage would be from a 250 pound guy who’s only wearing underwear. Now, when people go to the hammam their neighbors help them stretch and help scrub their back. It’s very normal for Morocco, but I just wasn’t prepared for it. A nice older guy (aforementioned 250 pound man in underwear) approached me in the second, warmer room and asked me a question. I said yes to whatever he asked, and he started to mime out what is customary in the hammam. I thought he was just being generous and helping the out-of-place foreigner. My language skills are apparently not as good as I thought. He then took my sock-like loofa thingy and started to scrub my back. No problem there, I have seen other people doing it, so I figured I could try to fit in. It ended up being a painful massage/scrub down. I swear you could make a little figurine of me out of all the dead skin that was scrubbed off my body (mind you, a very grey, ghastly looking figurine). 20 minutes later, I did feel relaxed, but decided that was probably the last time I’m going to have that done. It’s just not for me. Let me be clear, this is very normal and cathartic for people here. I’m not judging, but I’ll stick with a good old fashioned self-washing from now on. I’ve hit my two week anniversary of coming to my site. I felt like I’ve been in Morocco for a long time, but it’s only been 2 and a half months. Should have new pictures of my town and the surrounding areas soon. I’m going on a hike up the nearest mountain tomorrow with a nice store owner in town. He will identify all the surrounding areas for me, which should help me decide which area I want to explore first on what I hope will be one of many future hikes.