After our lecture in the afternoon, my friends Megan R, Chloe, and I went to the hammam, or "public bath". We had to buy a small bucket to dump over our heads and some rough scrubbing gloves. While at the hammam, we bought some soap made of olive oil that cleans all the dirt and crap out of your pores. We got into the changing room and had to take off all of our clothes, except for our underwear. We knew we were going to have to do it, but by the time it came down to taking off our bras, the three of us were a little nervous. It took a minute to adjust to being in front of a bunch of women completely shirtless, but eventually, it didn't bother us at all.
We were given big buckets to fill with water and then we went to the bath rooms. There wasn't a lot of room in the first 2 rooms, so we went back to the third room and it was hot as hell. I was nervous that I would pass out or stop breathing, but I adjusted. We sat down in a corner, filled our buckets, and scrubbed. The scrub gloves we had were black, so we could see all of the dead skin that came off. It wasn't gross or excessive, but it's amazing to see how much dead skin just sits on your body.
And of course, there aren't shower heads, so we used our small buckets to dump clean water on our bodies to rinse off. By the time we were done, we felt like new people. I've never been so clean in my life, only I was still sweating from how hot it was in there and then I had to walk home. It was certainly a bonding experience. If anyone goes to Morocco, they MUST go to the hammam. And since everyone there is almost naked or completely naked, nobody thinks twice or stares at you or judges you. Even though I was told that before I went, I learned better through experience. You just have to be comfortable and get over any insecurities you may have. :-)
Today, we had a guest lecture to talk about the Arab Revolution. On the way there, a little Moroccan baby followed us and ran around with us. He loved us! He was really cute and he held hands with Laura. It was so adorable!
The Moroccan Culture Seminar has been really interesting. The past two days, we have been mainly discussing religion. Yesterday, we talked about the significance of the hijab and reasons and meanings for veiling, and today we talked about the significance of Mary in Islam.
Everything is still going quite well with my family. They are so nice and helpful. They are easily approachable if I need something. I really like Zineb and it's fun playing with and talking to Aya. Unfortunately now that I have homework, I don't get to spend as much time with her.
It's starting to get hotter outside. Some rooms in the academic buildings are air conditioned, but in general, we just have to rely on a nice breeze to keep us cool.
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