A Semester in Morocco
From January to May 2015, I lived in Rabat, Morocco's capital city, studying Arabic and journalism at the Center for Cross-Cultural Learning.
2/11/2015 6 Comments Rinse, lather, roll, repeatSimply put, a hammam is a steam room and communal bathing area where Moroccans go to bathe once a week, sometimes more. "You want to go to the hammam with my mum today?" It was a simple question with an obvious answer. Because what I heard was, 'would you like to take a shower in a room larger than a walk-in closet that doesn't involve a small bucket and a hole in the wall?' So I said yes. After a week of trying to figure out how to efficiently use a Turkish bath at home in a way that doesn't create a sopping mess of the bathroom floor (which I still haven't quite figured out), nothing sounded more appealing than a trip to the hammam. So, with buckets full of the necessary supplies, a towel and a change of clothes in hand, I walked with my host mom and two sisters down the street to the closest one. It cost 10 dirham to enter and an extra 50+ dirham for the full treatment ($1 and $5+, respectively). Full treatment, as I've deemed it, entails the benefit of someone else washing you from head to toe. I decided to splurge this one time, because it seemed like a foolproof method: What better way to mask your confusion than behind the commands of someone else? In other words, I figured I didn't need to know what to do, so long as someone told me. We paid, and the attendant tossed us three bags of dark brown dirt-like material. A google search now tells me that it was rhassoul clay, a natural skin and hair care product.
6 Comments
Becca
2/9/2015 10:13:00 am
Never stop writing, I adore your blog. We miss you here Mary!
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Mary
2/9/2015 10:15:28 am
Becca! Thank you and I'm glad you're enjoying it :) I miss you all too!!
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Mary Kinler
2/9/2015 12:17:44 pm
Hi Mary,
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Mary Byrne
2/11/2015 10:09:02 am
Thank you, Mary! Hope you're doing well :)
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Adeline Murphy
2/10/2015 06:27:56 am
Wonderful story!
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Mary Byrne
2/11/2015 10:09:24 am
Thanks, Adeline!
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