Baths and engagements
Yesterday was a busy day.
Went to the Turkish bath, drove out to the countryside for a traditional Muslim engagement party for a coworker and partied with a bunch of Canadians at an event organised by one of the embassy's employees.
Too bad I did all this while suffering from a horrid hangover. Drinking is evil. E-V-I-L.
Anyway, the Turkish bath or hamam was an adventure in itself. For 20 JD you get to sweat to near-death in a sauna, lounge around in a jacuzzi, have your skin nearly scrubbed off by a Philippino attendant and then get a full-body massage - all while you're half naked in a room with 20 other half-naked women.
Quite the experience. Modesty must be left at the door.
While in the steaming hot sauna I felt like my face was on fire. We were given glasses of ice-cold cranberry juice and I resorted to hovering my face over it to catch some of the cold air evaporating upwards. I'm just not made to handle that kind of heat abuse.
The scrubbing was interesting as well. After being in the jacuzzi, you have a quick shower and then lay down on a marble table soaking wet and try not to move for fear you'll slip right off the slick surface and land on the floor. The attendant takes some kind of loofah and rubs and rubs.
She scrubbed so hard I swore she was drawing blood. I grimaced and bit my lip. This is supposed to be fun? I thought.
Despite the pain, my skin was glowing afterwards. And the massage was lovely.
The engagement party was an interesting experience. A few of my fellow female coworkers and I drove out to a village near Zarqa (got a BIT lost on the way) to the home of one of our secretaries who was getting married.
She had made herself a beautiful scarlet hoop dress and all her female relatives flitted about her in preparation for the little ceremony between her and the groom, while the men stayed outside and hung around in a big tent. The sheikh arrived, they exchanged what amounts to a kind of wedding vow and signed the marriage contract with several witnesses present.
We were told this makes them officially husband and wife but they will go on to have an elaborate wedding reception at a later date where family and friends can attend.
The next thing I knew all the women were hollering the zaghareet (that high pitched noise they make with their tongues... that's the best I can explain it) and us ladies were being ushered to the roof where a tent had been erected and women were shedding their veils and dancing to traditional Arabic music.
The men went back downstairs to their own tent where I presume they had their own little party.
We left shortly thereafter and got lost again on the drive back to Amman.
Went to the Turkish bath, drove out to the countryside for a traditional Muslim engagement party for a coworker and partied with a bunch of Canadians at an event organised by one of the embassy's employees.
Too bad I did all this while suffering from a horrid hangover. Drinking is evil. E-V-I-L.
Anyway, the Turkish bath or hamam was an adventure in itself. For 20 JD you get to sweat to near-death in a sauna, lounge around in a jacuzzi, have your skin nearly scrubbed off by a Philippino attendant and then get a full-body massage - all while you're half naked in a room with 20 other half-naked women.Quite the experience. Modesty must be left at the door.
While in the steaming hot sauna I felt like my face was on fire. We were given glasses of ice-cold cranberry juice and I resorted to hovering my face over it to catch some of the cold air evaporating upwards. I'm just not made to handle that kind of heat abuse.
The scrubbing was interesting as well. After being in the jacuzzi, you have a quick shower and then lay down on a marble table soaking wet and try not to move for fear you'll slip right off the slick surface and land on the floor. The attendant takes some kind of loofah and rubs and rubs.
She scrubbed so hard I swore she was drawing blood. I grimaced and bit my lip. This is supposed to be fun? I thought.
Despite the pain, my skin was glowing afterwards. And the massage was lovely.
The engagement party was an interesting experience. A few of my fellow female coworkers and I drove out to a village near Zarqa (got a BIT lost on the way) to the home of one of our secretaries who was getting married.
She had made herself a beautiful scarlet hoop dress and all her female relatives flitted about her in preparation for the little ceremony between her and the groom, while the men stayed outside and hung around in a big tent. The sheikh arrived, they exchanged what amounts to a kind of wedding vow and signed the marriage contract with several witnesses present.
We were told this makes them officially husband and wife but they will go on to have an elaborate wedding reception at a later date where family and friends can attend.
The next thing I knew all the women were hollering the zaghareet (that high pitched noise they make with their tongues... that's the best I can explain it) and us ladies were being ushered to the roof where a tent had been erected and women were shedding their veils and dancing to traditional Arabic music.
The men went back downstairs to their own tent where I presume they had their own little party.
We left shortly thereafter and got lost again on the drive back to Amman.
posted by Grace at 12:02 AM
2 Comments:
Ahhh, what a day.
You forgot to mention the part when they scrubbed our faces with a loofah made of horse hair - which resulted in yours truly having a near asthma attack.
The Turkish Bath experience was certainly refreshing, but I think I've had enought of being in a steamy hall with tonnes of naked women in a continually dripping wet state. Blah.
But..the ultra-traditional Zarqa soriee was a whole other story.
You mean for 20 JD I can sit in a sauna with 20 half-naked women? What a country!
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