My Week: More From Aleppo
Ruth Kaye, who is teaching English in Egypt, continues her account of her travels in the Middle East. Here she enjoys a Turkish bath in Aleppo, and a vigorous body scrub that turned out to be the enemy of nose-studs.
I stayed in Aleppo a bit longer than I had originally intended in order to have another Turkish bath (Hammam). Although I'd already had one in Damascus, it was a small, scruffy building and I really wanted to have the experience of a bath in a large opulent place. The only one I came across which allowed women to use it, was in Aleppo. Of course, the women's usage was restricted to just a few days a week, and just a few hours on those days. Women had to leave by 5 pm (so they could go home and prepare dinner for their husbands?).
It was worth the wait. Firstly I had to de-robe in an enormous hall (a great change from a boring changing room), on one of the many beautiful sofas. In the middle of the hall was a fountain.
Stage two was the sauna. In the middle of the huge circular sauna ceiling was an elaborate dome, punctured with holes through which the light shone in pretty patterns. It was hot and steamy, but there was hotter and steamier still to come. A woman pushed me into a small intensely steamy room, in which it was hard to breathe. One minute was enough, so I returned to the cooler of the two sauna options and planned to dart back into the sauna closet should the woman return.
A French woman appeared in the sauna and we moved through
the next stages together. This was good as having company made it a more sociable experience and gave me more of an excuse to linger in such a relaxing environment. She also found the sauna closet unbearable.
Next stage was body scrub and massage, using a camel hair as a cloth and olive-oil soap. The treatment was brief but powerful. It was so brisk that my nose-stud fell out. As it is (sorry, WAS, as it did not reappear, alas!) so tiny it didn't stand a chance against the tide of water gushing into the drain, and the massager did very little to help me search for it. Actually I still haven't found a replacement for it. They don't sell nose-studs in Egypt. Another French woman joined us and we chatted before going back into the changing room for a free cup of tea. It's a shame there are no hammams in Cairo as they would make a change from swimming. I found on both occasions when I had them that, although I felt incredibly tired inside the bath-house, it was maybe just a way for my body to release its fatigue. An hour and a cup of tea later, I felt greatly refreshed.
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By the way, my students last term were great; the keenest I've taught here so far. They even did their homework. Most of them were university students.
They even wrote to the management requesting to have me as their teacher again - a new experience for me herein Egypt. This term my students are ok; not the best but not the worst.
What else? Oh yes, I'm now the Teacher's Association rep, along with a guy who is a bit too zany for me to work easily with. He wants to turn everything into a big issue, but I'm more for doing what needs doing calmly.
Oh yes, forgot to say that we are now in Ramadan. This means I have to teach until 12 am (yes midnight!) four nights a week. It also means that students are very tired in class as they don't eat breakfast until 6pm. It's also making me very hungry for some reason. Because I see no one eating outside during the day, my appetite grows monstrously. I suppose there must be a
psychological link somewhere. I am especially enjoying the dried figs and fresh walnuts, as well as the fresh dates, which only come out during Ramadan.
