A friend once turned to me and said, “In a culture that was once known for its hammams, soaps, perfumes and cosmetics, there is truly a lack of cleanliness among the people now.” And in a sense he is right. If you casually walk down the street and take a look around, you will find many children and people covered in filth.
Of course some of there people may be beggars and do not have access to running water. The children may just like to play in the dirt. And others are shopkeepers, farmers or something of the sort and do not place as much importance on daily hygienics as, say, Americans.
On the other hand, he is absolutely wrong. The hammam culture in the Middle East is still thriving. At least in the three Middle Eastern countries I have traveled well, hammams were readily available to men, women and children. One trip to the hammam will leave you cleaner than you have ever felt, or been, in your life.
Mondays are now the official day Tove, a fellow language student and friend, and I grab our towels, olive oil soap and exfoliation mitts and head down to the old medina to get a good scrub down. It’s an experience like no other, and actually quite addictive.
So let me explain this hammam thing to you. Hammams are pretty much a sauna and bath all in the same place. It usually consists of two to four public tiled rooms: a hot room, a cold room, a sauna and sometimes a massage room. Nicer ones, of course, have more goodies inside like private showers, pools, etc. The hot room can sometimes serve as the sauna which makes cleaning much easier (I will explain this).
So the process is pretty simple, although time consuming. But, take it from me, it is definitely worth it. Trips to the hammam are really inexpensive as you only need a small rinse bucket, olive oil soap, a matt to sit on and an exfoliation mitt. I also bring shampoo and body wash, but there are preferential and not necessary.
You take your goodies and a couple of buckets and take your place on the floor, either in the hot or cold room. The cold room is only a little cooler, as it is either further away from the sauna or the hot water fountain, but it is a bit easier on the lungs. And then you take your buckets and fill one with hot water and another with cold, unless you have the luxury of having water heated to the right temperature.
After you mix water to a nice temperature, you sit in the hot room or sauna and let your skin soften. Wet your hair and body and just relax. After a good ten or fifteen minutes it’s time to get to work. Sitting on your mat, you lather yourself up in olive oil soap and let it sink into your skin for five minutes. Rinse it off and prepare yourself.
The majority of the time you spend scrubbing yourself vigorously with the exfoliation mitt. It is pretty much a glove of sandpaper. Maybe a better way to describe it is a pumice stone that you can wear. And you start at your legs and work you way up, leaving yourself raw and red afterward. Bring a friend to do your back!
It may sound a bit overexcessive, but while you are scrubbing yourself down you will see and feel rolls of black or grey dead skin detach itself from your body. It is the most disgusting but absolutely invigorating experience. After you rinse all the dead skin off, you can finish up by washing your hair and doing a final rise with body wash.
When you leave the hammam you will literally feel like your body was freed from a prison. Your skin will be able to breath and your sense of touch and feeling will be slightly different…a bit more acute.
For some women and children it is their only bath for the week, but in essence they cleaner than I was for the first 20 years of my life. During my first hammam experience in Morocco I paid a lady to exfoliate and massage me, and she found amusement in pointing out the sickening amount of dead skin that was coming off my body.
These people grew up being scrubbed down by their mothers and now spend at least one day a week indulging themselves in the king of all cleanings. And Americans spend their time nitpicking over cleaning behind the ears with a washcloth and making sure a child spends at least 20 seconds washing their hands with soap after using the bathroom.
For anyone who has the opportunity, I would definitely encourage they go to a hammam, but this experience is not for all. For women (not men) and children, the hammam is pretty much a big public bathtub. Everyone is naked or with underwear on at the most, and everyone is just doing their thing. Those who like privacy or are germophobics should not even give hammams a try.
But for those up for the chance, hammams can be found throughout the Middle East. In Lebanon it was almost impossible to find a hammam with women’s hours but I know they exist. In Syria there was a really nice one in the old medina, and the prices were ridiculously cheap. I paid the entrance fee, for soap and supplies and a massage all for like ten dollars. In Morocco the prices are even cheaper. The entrance fee at the hammam I frequent is ten dirhams, or a little over a dollar, and the massage is about 50 dirhams or eight dollars.
Speaking of hammams, after my scrub down today (which put me in a really good mood) I went online and received an email from an organization in Washington DC that I had applied to for an internship position.
I came across the position by chance while surfing the web, but it immediately grabbed my attention and it’s been on my mind ever since I sent in my cover letter and resume. I worked really hard on the application because the position seemed really competitive.
Also the organization said they were only contacting those for interviews that they were considering for the position. Getting the email really made me feel good because it was an affirmation of all my accomplishments this year. Needless to say it put me in a giddy mood, and I really needed the lift in spirits.
I won’t name the organization because I don’t want to jinx my chances. I will have an interview in the next two weeks, and I will give an update after it takes place.
Of course some of there people may be beggars and do not have access to running water. The children may just like to play in the dirt. And others are shopkeepers, farmers or something of the sort and do not place as much importance on daily hygienics as, say, Americans.
On the other hand, he is absolutely wrong. The hammam culture in the Middle East is still thriving. At least in the three Middle Eastern countries I have traveled well, hammams were readily available to men, women and children. One trip to the hammam will leave you cleaner than you have ever felt, or been, in your life.
Mondays are now the official day Tove, a fellow language student and friend, and I grab our towels, olive oil soap and exfoliation mitts and head down to the old medina to get a good scrub down. It’s an experience like no other, and actually quite addictive.
So let me explain this hammam thing to you. Hammams are pretty much a sauna and bath all in the same place. It usually consists of two to four public tiled rooms: a hot room, a cold room, a sauna and sometimes a massage room. Nicer ones, of course, have more goodies inside like private showers, pools, etc. The hot room can sometimes serve as the sauna which makes cleaning much easier (I will explain this).
So the process is pretty simple, although time consuming. But, take it from me, it is definitely worth it. Trips to the hammam are really inexpensive as you only need a small rinse bucket, olive oil soap, a matt to sit on and an exfoliation mitt. I also bring shampoo and body wash, but there are preferential and not necessary.
You take your goodies and a couple of buckets and take your place on the floor, either in the hot or cold room. The cold room is only a little cooler, as it is either further away from the sauna or the hot water fountain, but it is a bit easier on the lungs. And then you take your buckets and fill one with hot water and another with cold, unless you have the luxury of having water heated to the right temperature.
After you mix water to a nice temperature, you sit in the hot room or sauna and let your skin soften. Wet your hair and body and just relax. After a good ten or fifteen minutes it’s time to get to work. Sitting on your mat, you lather yourself up in olive oil soap and let it sink into your skin for five minutes. Rinse it off and prepare yourself.
The majority of the time you spend scrubbing yourself vigorously with the exfoliation mitt. It is pretty much a glove of sandpaper. Maybe a better way to describe it is a pumice stone that you can wear. And you start at your legs and work you way up, leaving yourself raw and red afterward. Bring a friend to do your back!
It may sound a bit overexcessive, but while you are scrubbing yourself down you will see and feel rolls of black or grey dead skin detach itself from your body. It is the most disgusting but absolutely invigorating experience. After you rinse all the dead skin off, you can finish up by washing your hair and doing a final rise with body wash.
When you leave the hammam you will literally feel like your body was freed from a prison. Your skin will be able to breath and your sense of touch and feeling will be slightly different…a bit more acute.
For some women and children it is their only bath for the week, but in essence they cleaner than I was for the first 20 years of my life. During my first hammam experience in Morocco I paid a lady to exfoliate and massage me, and she found amusement in pointing out the sickening amount of dead skin that was coming off my body.
These people grew up being scrubbed down by their mothers and now spend at least one day a week indulging themselves in the king of all cleanings. And Americans spend their time nitpicking over cleaning behind the ears with a washcloth and making sure a child spends at least 20 seconds washing their hands with soap after using the bathroom.
For anyone who has the opportunity, I would definitely encourage they go to a hammam, but this experience is not for all. For women (not men) and children, the hammam is pretty much a big public bathtub. Everyone is naked or with underwear on at the most, and everyone is just doing their thing. Those who like privacy or are germophobics should not even give hammams a try.
But for those up for the chance, hammams can be found throughout the Middle East. In Lebanon it was almost impossible to find a hammam with women’s hours but I know they exist. In Syria there was a really nice one in the old medina, and the prices were ridiculously cheap. I paid the entrance fee, for soap and supplies and a massage all for like ten dollars. In Morocco the prices are even cheaper. The entrance fee at the hammam I frequent is ten dirhams, or a little over a dollar, and the massage is about 50 dirhams or eight dollars.
Speaking of hammams, after my scrub down today (which put me in a really good mood) I went online and received an email from an organization in Washington DC that I had applied to for an internship position.
I came across the position by chance while surfing the web, but it immediately grabbed my attention and it’s been on my mind ever since I sent in my cover letter and resume. I worked really hard on the application because the position seemed really competitive.
Also the organization said they were only contacting those for interviews that they were considering for the position. Getting the email really made me feel good because it was an affirmation of all my accomplishments this year. Needless to say it put me in a giddy mood, and I really needed the lift in spirits.
I won’t name the organization because I don’t want to jinx my chances. I will have an interview in the next two weeks, and I will give an update after it takes place.
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