Back in Azrou and looking forward to a hot shower this evening! And how nice to use an American toilet again. Yes, I AM developing thighs of steel. Am kind of getting the hang of it (pun intended) on using Turkish toilet, but not my fav activity of the day.
Went to a hammam last night with my host sisters and mothers. What an experience! Go you into this room that has a bunch of buckets of hot water sitting on the floor, and there are all these womens in their panties only sitting on mats or low stools, just scrubbing away on their body for at least an house with kind of loofah mitts. One layer of skin comes off and you rinse and then scrub more, and if you stop, someone indicates you are to continue scrubbing. Exfoliation, big time. And you scrub others backs and they scrub yours. Used is this dark goopey kind of soap stuff first, then after you're done scrubbing for an hour, you soap up with regular soap. And then wash your hair. There are little kids there with their moms, and several 2-3 year olds threw very long fits so that got a little annoying. It would have been a very neat experience if there wasn't wall to wall women, if the kids weren't throwing fits, and if I didn't have to stay there so long. So we'll see what it will be like when I am at my own site. Do like the idea of all that exfoliation.
Earlier in the day one of my "sisters" and the English speaking cousin walked with my to the dam. It was four hours up and back. I kept telling them that it was too hot and too far for them to go without water, but they insisted it was ok. As we got near the dam, there were apple orchards heavy with wonderful apples that were being picked to export to Europe. Other apple trees along the way suffered from hail damage, and are not as close to irrigation as the ones closer to the dam so they are the ones sold at the souq in Azrou. The dam is just for irrigation. The water to the town comes from a pipeline in the mountains nearby. It is treated in the city and then the residents have certain hours of the day to run it. Like I think my family has a couple of hours during the day they can get water out of the tap, so they fill up lots of big jugs and buckets for use during the day. But the water is OK to drink. The dam was just built 16 years ago and holds snow water from the winter, so is pretty low this time of year, although it is stalked with trout. Numerous men were fishing, and sheep and goat herders had their animals there to drink. We passed fig trees, pear trees, a raspberry bush, along the way.
One of the things that has and will continue to be a ever present factor is that there are few women on the street so when I left the Cyber the other night I was about the only woman, and all these men of various ages hanging around and just staring at me. Unwanted attention is a huge factor for Americans, especially American, and especially young ones. So at least my age is a helpful factor on that score.
Went to a hammam last night with my host sisters and mothers. What an experience! Go you into this room that has a bunch of buckets of hot water sitting on the floor, and there are all these womens in their panties only sitting on mats or low stools, just scrubbing away on their body for at least an house with kind of loofah mitts. One layer of skin comes off and you rinse and then scrub more, and if you stop, someone indicates you are to continue scrubbing. Exfoliation, big time. And you scrub others backs and they scrub yours. Used is this dark goopey kind of soap stuff first, then after you're done scrubbing for an hour, you soap up with regular soap. And then wash your hair. There are little kids there with their moms, and several 2-3 year olds threw very long fits so that got a little annoying. It would have been a very neat experience if there wasn't wall to wall women, if the kids weren't throwing fits, and if I didn't have to stay there so long. So we'll see what it will be like when I am at my own site. Do like the idea of all that exfoliation.
Earlier in the day one of my "sisters" and the English speaking cousin walked with my to the dam. It was four hours up and back. I kept telling them that it was too hot and too far for them to go without water, but they insisted it was ok. As we got near the dam, there were apple orchards heavy with wonderful apples that were being picked to export to Europe. Other apple trees along the way suffered from hail damage, and are not as close to irrigation as the ones closer to the dam so they are the ones sold at the souq in Azrou. The dam is just for irrigation. The water to the town comes from a pipeline in the mountains nearby. It is treated in the city and then the residents have certain hours of the day to run it. Like I think my family has a couple of hours during the day they can get water out of the tap, so they fill up lots of big jugs and buckets for use during the day. But the water is OK to drink. The dam was just built 16 years ago and holds snow water from the winter, so is pretty low this time of year, although it is stalked with trout. Numerous men were fishing, and sheep and goat herders had their animals there to drink. We passed fig trees, pear trees, a raspberry bush, along the way.
One of the things that has and will continue to be a ever present factor is that there are few women on the street so when I left the Cyber the other night I was about the only woman, and all these men of various ages hanging around and just staring at me. Unwanted attention is a huge factor for Americans, especially American, and especially young ones. So at least my age is a helpful factor on that score.
posted by Connie Genger | 10:56 AM
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