After lunch and our Arabic lesson today, eight of us women from the Home Base decided that we must try a hammam. A hammam is a traditional, communal Moroccan bathhouse. That is a cultural shock in itself going into a bathhouse and disrobing in front of a bunch of Moroccan women strangers. But after hearing about the hammams, we knew that we’d have to forgo pride and modesty and just go for it. If Moroccan women go on average once a week and it is known as their most beloved beauty secret, then we would have to give it a try.
So, we gathered our essentials: shampoo, towel, scrubby mitt and soap and headed to the hammam for the experience of a lifetime. We took three taxis and met at the discreet entrance. There was no sign outside, just an old looking building. We entered the main room where we paid our $2 entrance fee and disrobed. It was a bit disconcerting as EVERYONE, including the woman at the cashier counter, was naked. We immediately hired a tabbeya or bath attendant who took our two buckets and led us forward. We passed through three rooms. The first was the cold room, then the medium temperature room, and finally the hot room where we got our scrub downs. The hot room was tiled in heated white marble. My tabbeya sloshed hot water on the floor and ordered me to sit. Then, she spread savon noir (black palm soap made from resins of olive) all over my body and began the process of exfoliating my skin by using an el-kis (course glove). She scrubbed (almost) every part of my body and it was like heaven. I was tossed and turned around like a rag doll, thrown around the heated floors and scrubbed and scrubbed. Then she sloshed hot water over and over to rinse me off. She shampooed my hair, did some head and back massage and sloshed some more. By the end we were so relaxed we could hardly move and our skin was silky soft. We paid our tabbeya ($6) and left feeling many years younger.
The Moroccan hammam has been a tradition for ages. Both men and women go to the hammam but of course there are separate times for each gender. At this particular hummam, men’s time is after 8 PM and Harold is anxious to try it. Moroccan women are known for their beauty treatments and secrets. They prefer to use all natural products for their beauty maintenance such as olive oils, henna, ghassoul (clay), eggs, fruits, vegetables and plant-based products. Perhaps that is how they achieve such beautiful, perfect skin! If only we could have the same kinds of traditions back in the States!
[ Sorry. No photos of today’s adventure.]
After we returned and had tea (of course), four of us rallied and walked about 1.5 hours around the area. We had dinner and spent the next couple of hours trading family photos and discussing our past experiences.
So, we gathered our essentials: shampoo, towel, scrubby mitt and soap and headed to the hammam for the experience of a lifetime. We took three taxis and met at the discreet entrance. There was no sign outside, just an old looking building. We entered the main room where we paid our $2 entrance fee and disrobed. It was a bit disconcerting as EVERYONE, including the woman at the cashier counter, was naked. We immediately hired a tabbeya or bath attendant who took our two buckets and led us forward. We passed through three rooms. The first was the cold room, then the medium temperature room, and finally the hot room where we got our scrub downs. The hot room was tiled in heated white marble. My tabbeya sloshed hot water on the floor and ordered me to sit. Then, she spread savon noir (black palm soap made from resins of olive) all over my body and began the process of exfoliating my skin by using an el-kis (course glove). She scrubbed (almost) every part of my body and it was like heaven. I was tossed and turned around like a rag doll, thrown around the heated floors and scrubbed and scrubbed. Then she sloshed hot water over and over to rinse me off. She shampooed my hair, did some head and back massage and sloshed some more. By the end we were so relaxed we could hardly move and our skin was silky soft. We paid our tabbeya ($6) and left feeling many years younger.
The Moroccan hammam has been a tradition for ages. Both men and women go to the hammam but of course there are separate times for each gender. At this particular hummam, men’s time is after 8 PM and Harold is anxious to try it. Moroccan women are known for their beauty treatments and secrets. They prefer to use all natural products for their beauty maintenance such as olive oils, henna, ghassoul (clay), eggs, fruits, vegetables and plant-based products. Perhaps that is how they achieve such beautiful, perfect skin! If only we could have the same kinds of traditions back in the States!
[ Sorry. No photos of today’s adventure.]
After we returned and had tea (of course), four of us rallied and walked about 1.5 hours around the area. We had dinner and spent the next couple of hours trading family photos and discussing our past experiences.
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