...in a HAMMAM
Don't be alarmed, this is still a G-rated entry.
I would imagine that for most Westerners, the hammam might be quite a cultural adjustment. We're just not used to the bath being a public place to socialize, catch up, and for spending an entire hour or more dedicated to slowly scrubbing our bodies while we discuss the latest news and events.
Since the shower where I was living (before the apartment) had the water pressure of tiny bathroom faucet and the water temperature was on the cold side of masochistic, I had been treating myself to some really hot water and going to a communal, woman-only hamman. I had also read that a hammam was one of the main places to meet Moroccan women which I felt I needed to do in order to balance the scales a bit.
I've been twice now and I think after one or two more visits, I'll feel a lot less awkward there.
Even outside the hammam, I'm already in a position of needing to read a lot of body language, taking cues from facial expressions, hand gestures and so forth to really understand the culture and the language. So to try and figure all of this out while also being completely naked is pretty interesting although not a terribly relaxing experience for me yet.
For starters, at first there was the question of just how naked to get as well as when and where. Then there's the question of should I be standing while I bathe or sitting on the tiles (and is that sanitary?); should I be joining the other women or finding my own corner?; should I be making any eye contact or smiling at the women or not smiling? Since twice now, someone has offered to scrub my back for me and since I've seen other women helping each other get to those hard-to-reach-places, should I be offering too? And how would I go about doing that?
I'm realizing that I don't have a lot of hammam-specific vocabulary, too. A little old (stark naked) lady came up to me last time, shaking a bucket at me and repeating a word. I thought maybe she wanted help washing her hair so I started to dip the bucket into the water and motioned to help her but apparently, that wasn't what she meant. She got frustrated and gave up. Another lady standing by watching didn't jump in to help so I don't know what that was all about.
I also noticed (by trying to discreetly watch what everyone else was doing) that several of the women had four kinds of soaps, all kinds of creams and lotions and scrubby things and shampoos and pumice stones all laid out on the tiles near them. They were pros. I only had my little wad of slimy soap gel stuff I bought from the market and a poofy scrubby thing so I felt like an amateur bather.
I have been amazed by the time and care the women take to wash just one small part of the body. I noticed that women who were there before me were still on the same arm or foot or leg by the time I was totally done and ready to dry off so I tried to really slow down. Sometimes, I have ended up doing my whole body 2 or 3 times just to use up more time. Back home, our showers are nothing like this.
Of course, I think the women really make a THING of going to the hammam. Maybe this is their one bath all week, I don't know. But despite all the awkwardness and wondering, I really am starting to like it. Eventually, I'll figure out how to spend 20 minutes on just one foot.
And now that I think I've got the protocol figured out, I won't be stripping down in the front room again, only to find everybody else waits until the actual hammam room.
Live and learn.
