Scrubbed

Yesterday we had some disappointing news. Eid will start on Wednesday, not today, Tuesday. What this means is that Ramadan lasts one more day and the parties will not start until tomorrow. My friends and I will be out of town Wednesday and Thursday visiting the beach town of Hammamet and won't be able to celebrate Eid with our families.

We decided to maximize our free day by taking a trip to a hammam with our host mother. A hammam is a Turkish bath of sorts. My roommates and I have never done anything like this and had to look completely to others in order to have some sort of example to follow. The first step is to sit in a steam room modeled like an underground cave and soak your feet in a bucket of steaming water. Some women just sit and relax, others would rub soaps on their body and pour water on themselves. After you've been sitting in the steam room for a decent period of time you become very sweaty and are ready for the next step. At this point you lie down on a granite slab and a woman pours warm water over your body. Then she proceeds to scrape you viciously with a netted glove. Large amounts of dead skin peel off your body. Then more water is poured on you and more scrubbing of the skin transpires. It feels good until you hit that point that you feel she has stopped scraping off dry skin and started scraping off live skin cells. After this she rubs your body down with soap and a clay-rosewater mixture, stretches out your legs and arms, massages your feet and sends you to shower off. It was really an awesome experience. My skin feels silky smooth... and it all cost me around $8. My roommates and I intend on going back before the end of the program, multiple times if possible.

In other news, my host sister-in-law's water broke today! It seems like everyone has different information... from what I can tell the baby will either be born in a few hours or a few days. Updates to come.