Wednesday 31st August
On Thursday morning I got up and got dressed but after a bit it was clear I couldn't do much and went back to bed. Martin wandered around the city but at 4 when he came back I was still poorly. I lay in bed most of the day with stomach cramps and a temperature. It was pretty surreal with the noise from the traffic through the window and the music from the ever present Koreans downstairs. It was like driving in a car in the city with all the windows open and the radio on full blast. Felt better later in the evening and sat downstairs when Irene and Melissa returned. Not 100% on the Friday and had a wander around and a massage and bath in the sulphur baths; but hoping that all will be well for Saturday and the trip to Armenia.
On Friday, us three ladies went to the baths. This was the first time I have used a Turkish bath and it was an interesting experience. Firstly I was doing this with 2 fellow TLG teachers who I did not know especially well but getting naked and watching each other being scrubbed down by another woman seemed strangely natural! It was 30 lari each for an hour (£1.80) and firstly we showered and then got into a hot tub of water and just oohed and ahhed in delight and floatiness. Then we were massaged in turn by a very friendly woman who had strong hands lol.
Melissa went first and didn't scream in agony which was encouraging but when it came to my turn I wondered how she managed to keep quiet! For those of you not familiar with this particular kind of experience I will give you the low down. Firstly you lay on your back on a marble slab and she then she chucks 3 buckets of hot spa water over you. Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! There's no subtlety in this. She lifts one arm over your head then systematically scrubs with one of those knitted yellow nylon dish cloths each side of your forearm and upper arm and armpit with a kind of disinfectant - it had a mild vinegar smell (It probably was vinegar!) and then moved onto the other arm and repeated this. Then this hurt! She scrubs really roughly across your chest up and down, round, under what seems like forever and I would've shouted out but didn't want to be thought of as a baby lol. (Peer pressure hahaha) She then moves down and does the same thing with your legs and feet. 3 more buckets of water! You then have to turn over and she does the same to your back and legs. 3 more buckets of water! Laying on your back the whole thing is repeated with a soapy mixture and then a bit of a knead on the shoulders and some chopping on the back and 3 more buckets of water. Then you sit up and she washes your hair. Now this is not the kind of thing that happens in the hairdressers. No this is more what your mum did to you after a hard week when she just wants to get you sorted and packed off to bed. You sit up and straight away 3 buckets of water are poured over your head and I was transported back 45 years and want to complain "I wasn't ready!" and to ask for a flannel so the water doesn't get in my eyes. Then the shampoo squirted on my head and a frenzied lathering of my hair followed by a good scrub of my ears inside and outside and behind. She then gave my face a scrub with the yellow, knitted nylon cloth and I remembered when I was about 9 years old and had been eating a jam doughnut in the chip shop while my mum was talking with the owner. My face was covered with sugar and my mum took a piece of the paper they wrapped the chips in and proceeded to wipe the sugar off my face. "OW OW OW" It was just like that. 8 buckets over my head this time and up I jump up to let Irene share the fun. I left there safe in the knowledge that I had never been as clean in my life as I was at that moment!
Melissa went first and didn't scream in agony which was encouraging but when it came to my turn I wondered how she managed to keep quiet! For those of you not familiar with this particular kind of experience I will give you the low down. Firstly you lay on your back on a marble slab and she then she chucks 3 buckets of hot spa water over you. Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! There's no subtlety in this. She lifts one arm over your head then systematically scrubs with one of those knitted yellow nylon dish cloths each side of your forearm and upper arm and armpit with a kind of disinfectant - it had a mild vinegar smell (It probably was vinegar!) and then moved onto the other arm and repeated this. Then this hurt! She scrubs really roughly across your chest up and down, round, under what seems like forever and I would've shouted out but didn't want to be thought of as a baby lol. (Peer pressure hahaha) She then moves down and does the same thing with your legs and feet. 3 more buckets of water! You then have to turn over and she does the same to your back and legs. 3 more buckets of water! Laying on your back the whole thing is repeated with a soapy mixture and then a bit of a knead on the shoulders and some chopping on the back and 3 more buckets of water. Then you sit up and she washes your hair. Now this is not the kind of thing that happens in the hairdressers. No this is more what your mum did to you after a hard week when she just wants to get you sorted and packed off to bed. You sit up and straight away 3 buckets of water are poured over your head and I was transported back 45 years and want to complain "I wasn't ready!" and to ask for a flannel so the water doesn't get in my eyes. Then the shampoo squirted on my head and a frenzied lathering of my hair followed by a good scrub of my ears inside and outside and behind. She then gave my face a scrub with the yellow, knitted nylon cloth and I remembered when I was about 9 years old and had been eating a jam doughnut in the chip shop while my mum was talking with the owner. My face was covered with sugar and my mum took a piece of the paper they wrapped the chips in and proceeded to wipe the sugar off my face. "OW OW OW" It was just like that. 8 buckets over my head this time and up I jump up to let Irene share the fun. I left there safe in the knowledge that I had never been as clean in my life as I was at that moment!
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