Technically, I went to the hammam the day before my birthday, so we’ll just call the title artistic license 🙂 But in a way, there really is a connection to my birthday – other than the fact that I went to my first hammam before my actual birthday…when I came out from the hammam, my skin felt as soft and fresh as the day I was born!
So I had been intrigued by the concept of a public bath – especially in Morocco because I had heard that it’s common to have someone else actually wash you and sometimes a massage is involved at the end. I had done a little research but still had no idea what it would actually be like and exactly what to do. So I reached out to my new friends on Facebook – English Speaking Women in Marrakesh – and someone offered to take me. Seleena goes to the hammam every Monday with her cleaning lady, Fathiha, who is now also her hammam lady. She told me what supplies to bring with me (hammam glove, flip flops, shower gels/shampoo & towels – and also a razer & daily lotions I might want to apply after my washing). She said we could use the buckets at the hammam but I’d need to buy a mat. She would supply the black soap. It would cost 12 dirhams to get into the bath & then I could pay 50 dirhams to her hammam lady for the scrubbing.
I arrived at Seleena’s apartment and we gathered our things to go (leaving any valuables at her home). The three of us walked to the hammam with our bath bags & some buckets (she had her own). We paid to go in, went into the main room and undressed (except underwear – although that was optional). We checked our clothes in at the desk and walked into the bathing area. There were three sections to this bathhouse – the main area where we undressed, the first bathing area and then the 2nd bathing area. Each area is progressively hotter. It’s suggested to start in the hottest section so that your pores open up and you can get a better cleaning.
We hung up our towels and took our bath supplies to an area along one of the walls. We laid down our mats as Fathiha filled the large buckets. Seleena brought out the “black soap” and we both scrubbed the soap all over our bodies as we sat on our mats. When we had rubbed it all over, Fathiha used the warm water to rinse it all off. Then she began scrubbing. She did my arms first, then had me lay down on my belly while she scrubbed my back, behind & legs. Then I turned over and she scrubbed my entire front. She scrubbed everywhere except my face. Once thoroughly scrubbed, she rinsed me off and I was to gently scrub my own face. As she then scrubbed Seleena, I shampooed my hair and rinsed off some more. We then continued to pour as much water as possible all over our scrubbed bodies – just dipping the smaller bucket into the larger one and dumping it on.
After we were done, Fathiha then washed & scrubbed herself – with Seleena scrubbing her back where she couldn’t really reach well. When we were all done, Fathiha rinsed off all the supplies while we gathered our things and dried off in the cooler room. Then she joined us and we all went out into the main first area, where it was quite cool. Although it was 90 degrees outside, after being in the sauna bath for over an hour, it really did feel cool in that first room now. We sat & chatted for a few minutes as our bodies came back down to a normal temperature. We then dressed, put on our headscarves (so we wouldn’t catch cold) and headed back to Seleena’s home.
It really was quite an amazing experience. Seleena explained to me that this is sometimes quite a social gathering for women. Friends and family will go together and sometimes spend hours in the bath – scrubbing themselves and/or each other and just chatting and relaxing. I could really see how this is a bit of a bonding experience. And as she expressed – quite not what you’d expect from women who typically are covered from head to toe in public. From the time they are children, they go to the hammams and are perfectly comfortable being basically naked with other women. The men also go to hammams – many bathhouses are split into two main sections…one side for the women and the other for the men. While we were there, I noticed two women in one corner. One woman was very old and looked quite frail. The other woman with her seemed to be caring for her. She helped her when she walked, scrubbed her and rinsed her very carefully. It was quite touching to watch these two women interact in this way…what an amazing bond to be shared.
