Roses, chocolate, cake, songs, assorted emails and the best hammam ever were the ingredients of my birthday celebration yesterday. What a day it was! I awoke at 6:30 and sang the birthday song to myself. For the first time in ages, I felt really happy. I went back to sleep and had dream after dream. At 9:30 I woke up for real and took a couple of hours to get my act together. The sun was shining for the 2nd day in a row and I hung some laundry out to dry on the terrace. Around 11:00 I went to Café Clock and had some coffee and a bagel (bagels are one of the many non-Moroccan treats The Clock offers). At noon, my new friend, Rose, joined me. We had a date to go to a posh hammam for a body scrub. She arrived with roses, a card and a gift of perfume in hand.
Nauti-kah is one of the chic hammams in the New Town. I’ve only gone to the cheaper hammans in the Medina and surrounding area. After experiencing a dozen or so of these hammans, I had sworn off them. I didn’t like the crowds, the schlepping of buckets and the curious stares of my fellow patrons. And then weren’t exactly hygienic.
Nauti-kah costs 10X more than a ‘regular’ hammam but boy is it worth it! To begin with, you don’t have the initial, extended bargaining over the price when you enter the door. In regular hammams, a foreigner is often charged a different price. Even when you know what the real price is, you can spend at 20 minutes arguing over the cost and in the end you are still overcharged. Sometimes you have to fight to get your change if you don’t have the exact amount. And if you’ve somehow managed to pay the real price, your service is not up to par. Who wants to go for a relaxing few hours and begin with such a hassle? Not me! But at Nauti-kah, where the price is fixed at 180 dirham (about $24 U.S.), you are treated like a queen. You are given your own locker, a plush terrycloth robe, a towel and a really nice mitten for scrubbing the skin off your body.
After changing into the robe, you are escorted down into the hot, steamy hammam and ushered into ‘the vaporizing’ room. Your hand is filled with the special olive oil soap and you are instructed to rub the soap over your body and soften your skin with the steam. Soon, one of the workers comes to take you to a table with a foam head pillow (you don’t lie on the floor like you do at the other hammans). The scrub was so thorough and the women working there were incredibly nice. Once a few layers of skin had been polished off, you are taken to the whirlpool. Another sojourn into the steam room is followed by the application of rose-scented oil in another room. Next, you are given shampoo and directed towards a shower. Finally, there is the relaxation room – a dimly lit lounge with reclining chairs and muzak playing softly in the background. This process was 2 hours long and Rose and I were both glowing.
A taxi ride took us back to the Medina where we intended to have lunch. I dropped off my bag at the house and found a notice from the post office. My package from my friend Mary had finally arrived. I hurriedly set off for the post office and picked up the box. When I entered Café Clock I was told a gas leak in the kitchen had stopped all food preparation for a while. While sitting at a table drinking some water and preparing to rip into the package from home, the staff of the restaurant came around the corner with a cake and candles. I was serenaded with ‘Happy Birthday’ in English & Arabic.
Mary’s package included loads of goodies. Chocolate, body and hair products, more chocolate, a box of Mac & cheese (!?!!!), miniature slinky toys, a pink bandana, a vibrating toothbrush and something to house photos. WOW!
It was time to return home and prepare my lesson for class that night. Upon arriving at school, I had the teachers sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to me. They were very obliging. Then I went for a quick coffee before class and fellow teacher insisted on paying for it. After class, he even gave me a ride home so I wouldn’t have to take a taxi on my birthday. I had my class sing to me, too. A text message instructed me to stop by Café Clock again when I got home and more flowers awaited me. And finally, my sister-in-law, Meryem, came by the house with a great sconce and two clay potting trays.
Where was my erstwhile husband on the special day you might ask? Well, he’s been rather ill and spending time at his family house where his mother is ministering to him. He did come by the house in the evening and offer to take me out for a fruit salad. But I needed to eat something heartier and so he joined me at a restaurant where I was given a few Moroccan pastries to commemorate the day. Hassan was sent back home to his mother and I settled into bed with a movie. I felt completely content and grateful for this wonderful day.
No comments:
Post a Comment