Hamam (Turkish bath)

Sunday there was an excursion to Ifrane and Azrou, I didn't attend because most of the trip was a hike and the pins in my foot have been bothering me. So I spent Sunday blissfully alone in my apartment updating my blog and relaxing. I did go around the corner to a pretty nice restaurant to get a Nutella crêpe for brunch though.

It was delicious!

Monday I woke up with a migraine so I spent the morning trying my best to make a cold dark cave to sleep in, no easy feat let me assure you. I was feeling better in the afternoon so I went to my Arab media class. After class we had a hamam session. 

For those of you who don't know what a hamam is, let me explain. For those who do, feel free to skip ahead. :) A hamam is a Turkish bath there are various levels of hamams and their quality but I can only tell you about my experience. So we thought it was hot outside (102), we were wrong! The hamam is hot AND humid so it feels even hotter I promise that within about 30 seconds of walking in my ENTIRE body was drenched in sweat. Like every sweat gland in my body "released the kraken."  :) The hamam we went to is called the Atlas Hamam and it's literally a hole in the wall with a ginormous pile of wood in front of it. There was a small porch type area and then bam! Nearly naked women. Women of every shape, size and age range were there in ALL their glory with ZERO body image issues. It was really pretty amazing, no judgements about other bodies just women being comfortable in their skin. There are a few rooms in the hamam. The first room where you store your clothing and strip down, which is also the coolest in temperature. The next room we walked through  was THE hamam (the actual bathroom) where you could change as well. The next room was the main scrub area and it was HOT! We walked through that room to another where our adventure began. Picture this, a room that's probably 12x15 all tile with a slight slope from the middle of the room to the walls. Near the walls is a small channel that feeds to drains to get rid of the water. Running around the room about 2 feet off the floor maybe less are pipes and about every 3 feet are spigots for the water. There are 2 temperatures of water in the pipes. Cold like even if it wasn't a million degrees in the hamam it would be cold water, and then the temperature if the sun! The pipe and spigots themselves are so hot that they can cause burns. (I'm not joking or over exaggerating about them being able to cause burns.) We were each given a large flat bucket similar to a saucer dish and a small bucket with a handle. We were to full the saucer with water and then use the smaller one to pour it over ourselves. Once we were sufficiently doused we were given a mixture of black salt (I think) and I don't know what and were told to make a paste of it and then slather ourselves with it. We helped eachother get backs and then sat there to let the mixture take full effect. We rinsed and then waited our turn to go back to the scrub room. I was last to be scrubbed in our group and had heard that there was a nice lady and a not so nice lady. I thankfully got the nice lady. It was a little awkward I'm not going to lie to have some stranger scrubbing my body in never before assumed positions on the floor of a public bath. There were times when I didn't know where to look, well because basically if I looked straight ahead I would have been seeing waaaaay more of the VERY nice lady who was scrubbing me then I would have been comfortable with. It was interesting with me not being able to tire ally understand how she wanted me to contort myself in front of her, but we got there eventually. :)  After the scrub (of which I apparently got off easy, there was another lady who seemed bound and determined to scrub all 7 layers of skin off my classmates) I returned to my little square of floor and washed my hair and shaved my legs. And let me tell you giiiiiiiirl/booooooy they were smooth! 

It was defiantly an interesting experience. I think anyone who comes to Morocco HAS to go to a hamam (that means you Debbie, Ric and Papa!) if for no other reason than to get a little slice of true Moroccan culture. It took me a few days to write this for a few reasons, I was still trying to figure out how I felt about it haha and unfortunately despite all my best efforts and the following of all the great advice (thanks, Nathan!!) I got a stomach bug. :( 

I've been sick since Tuesday morning. I know that doesn't seem long to most of you but every day here feels like 10 with all that we cram into each day so it feels like I've been sick a lot longer. I'm feeling better now and I was even able to make it to class this afternoon, fingers crossed tomorrow this horrible pain finally subsides and I'll be able to enjoy Fes on Saturday. 

It's night night time for me now. I'll write about the first two days of Ramadan, in shaa Allah, tomorrow. :)

Kayla نور

Moulay Ismail university, college of humanities

The next day was the first day of school!!!

It was a bit of an adventure getting there. Let me explain transportation here.  Besides walking, which you do a lot here, there are 3 modes of transport. The bus which is like a bus in the states, it has a set route and price. Unlike in the states though, the driver will give you change and people are crammed in every nook. 

Then there are grande taxis. These are generally old grey Mercedes Benz and they "fit" 6 passengers! 4 in the back and 2 up front with the driver. These also have a set route (I have no idea how you find out the route) with a start point or station and everyone pays 3 dirhams each, which is about 35 cents. If you want extra room or if you don't want to wait for the car to fill because they won't leave until there are 6 passengers you can pay the difference. There is an interesting twist though, if you offer the driver enough money he can be persuaded to go off route. If you're out on the street in one of the routes you can catch a taxi that way too. 

Next the petit taxis, which are different colors depending on the city. Here in Meknés they are baby blue. They will only take 3 passengers maybe 4 if one is a child, they run on a meter and will take you anywhere you want to go just like taxis back home. 

Ok so all that said, now I can tell my story  of the first day of school. My new friend and flatmate, Alexis and I had late class on Tuesday. So we ate lunch that Jameela prepared for us and then walked to the grande taxi station. (Or what we thought was the grand taxi station! Turns out we needed to go one more block) I saw a man walking towards us so I asked if this was the grand taxi station. He looked at me like I was from Mars and asked I I spoke English. Which I was thankful for. We told him we were looking for the grand taxi station and he asked where we were trying to go. When we told him he said, "No! You need a blue taxi!" We told him we had taken the grande taxi the day before and he said he would get us the blue taxi and tell it whee to take us. Us being new and only having been to the grande taxi station let the guy "help" us. He hailed the taxi and told the guy where to go. Then the taxi proceeded to drive us al the way bak to our apartment and just down the street about 4 blocks to another campus of the university. Thankfully I had the map in my bag that we had been given at our group meeting and I showed him where we wanted to go. Having been blessed with my dad's sense of direction I knew he was taking us the long way, but couldn't exactly tell him I knew that so we ended up paying more then we really should have had to pay, but we were at school safely so that was all I cared about. 

This is the enterance to my school. It is so grand and beautiful. The old Medina wall runs around most of the school. 

It is really a different experience to be somewhere with so much history. 

This is the view as you walk up the hill to the university. 

Same tower just up the hill more. 

Thankfully the classrooms are air conditioned, which is really our only source for A/C on a regular basis. It helps to not be feeling like you're becoming a human puddle while trying to learn, especially something like Arabic! 

This is one of the trees on campus. I have no clue what it is, but it has purple flowers so you know I has to take a photo! :)

I'm taking two classes, advanced Arabic and Arab media. My teacher for Arabic is so kind and patient! She helps me so much and I'm learning a lot from her. My professor for Arab media is pretty awesome too.  He actually went to school in Nebraska and Texas. He's from Morocco but speaks English with a British accent, it's crazy. :)

Nothing terribly eventful happened the rest of the week in class. It was strange to be in class in the Fourth of July though. That was a first. :)

That catches us up to yesterday's excursion to Rabat, the capital of Morocco. :)

It will be it's own entry. Now I think I'm going to go get a crape for breakfast. :) 

Kayla نور