A holiday in Fes (Fez)

Today is a holiday in most of Europe and Africa - it's Labor Day - the first of May. We left last night and drove 3 or 4 hours to Fes, and stayed in a lovely little hotel just outside the largest medina in the world.

With over 50,000 people living there and 9,000 streets - it was unbelievable. I am overwhelmed by the sights, smells, sounds, and touch of everything there. Here are just a few shots of what we saw today. There's no way to capture it in photos but my colleague, Dany Le Goaix, is a fabulous photographer and he's promised to share all his photos with us. :)

First some pretty fabric from one of the many many fabric stores.

 Sunset as we are travelling 'home' from Fez to Casa.

 One of cats in the medina - for the most part, they look pretty healthy.

 Inside a Qu'ran school.

 The contrast of third world and gorgeous art.

 The 'blue' gate to the medina with the minarets in the background.

 Hand-painting pottery.

 Roof tiles.

 These poor guys would carry cement from one place to another. But we did see them eating later so we know they're taken care of.

 The view of Fez from up on a hill.

 Close-ups of a wall.

 The main gates to a palace.

We're heading to Tangier (just across the sea from Gibraltar and Spain) and to Chefchaouen tomorrow after work. I am posting on the work blog during the week (though not every day) so look there for CSC-related posts and here for tourist and personal posts.
Our group is getting along really well - everyone likes, respects, and helps everyone else! Sympa (French for nice, friendly, good people.)

 #ibmcsc

A day at the Hammam - a Moroccan bath house

Misha, our Moroccan Mentor for the past three months, had blogged about a Hammam she waited till the last few days to visit, and she said she loved the experience. I didn't want to wait in case I really enjoyed it, and I'm so glad I went today. This is going to be a weekly ritual for me.

I purposely went to a local Hammam instead of a fancy, swanky spa in the chic part of town. I was the only 'tourist' and I was led around by the hand like a newborn by all the 'grandmothers' in the rooms.

First one removes all clothes except panties - I expected this after reading online, and I was glad I brought a new pair to change into for later. They had plastic shoes for me to borrow, and I bought my own "scrub mitten" so the next time I come, they can use that. I was issued some green scrub and with that and my mitten & towel, I went into the steamy bath area. It was right out of a Greek play - white tile everywhere and of course, women only (the men are on a completely separate floor.) The first grandmother told me to go into a steamy room that smelled of eucalyptus and rinse off, letting my pores open for a few minutes. I wish I could have taken pictures, but I'll try to describe it. The entire floor - with all the rooms - are in marble tile, and there are little marble places to sit in front of faucets with carved marble basins all around the room. You sit on the benches and dip plastic bowls in the water and pour it over you, letting the heat and steam rise and just relax. Then another grandmother calls you onto a marble slab like a big piece of fudge, and she takes the mitten and the green stuff and start scrubbing away. I have never seen so much skin come off my body. I'm actually really surprised I have any left at all! But I am scrubbed from head to toe and feel tingly all over.

Next, I stand up and she dumps warm water all over to rinse me off and I'm lead to another marble slab where a huge piece of warm, wet plastic, like a clear tarp, has been placed. I lay on the tarp and I'm lathered with a brown mud that is the color of cafe au lait, and it smells like eucalyptus, mint, rosemary, and something else I can't quite make out. Perhaps seaweed. I'm wrapped in this and lay for 10 or 15 minutes, then unwrapped and rinsed again. Now I take a quick shower to make sure the mud is out from every little spot, and I'm taken to the massage table, where I'm again rubbed with an oil - this time it's like lemon and rose petals, and I get a lovely massage by my first grandmother. She's incredibly strong. Any residual airplane and travel tension is melting away, and I'm in a new place. The oil is followed by something else, and finally I'm rinsed once more and led into the jacuzzi tub for 15-20 minutes. When the bubbles stop, it's my signal to take one more shower, wash the oils off, and wash my hair.

Then all too soon it's time to leave, and I dry off, get dressed, and wish that I had a scarf to cover my head like all the other women, as my hair is wet and I need to walk "home."

This cost about $35. $40 with tip.
Amazing.

I got back to the hotel and told the story to the other women on the team, and they're all there now having the same thing. We're going to make this a weekly ritual. The Hammam is open until 10pm every night - so even if it's a choice between this and dinner after work, this will win!

I hope my teammates enjoyed it as much as I did. I'm going to go down to the the lobby and see.

A bientot!

#ibmcsc #ibmcscmorocco5