Saturday--Istanbul-Hamami

Saturday--January 22--still not feeling well in Istanbul

Didn’t sleep so well.  Was woken up by drums pounding at  2:00 a.m. and I’m still not feeling so great.  I decide it’s best to start antibiotics because I can’t afford to be sick for very long.  I also have to decide when I’m leaving Istanbul and where I’m going.  Ferit has made an itinerary for me to travel to Cappadocia and then to Izmir leaving on Tuesday.  I’m not sure I can make two flights with the amount of congestion I have not to mention the cold factor in Cappadocia.  I may have to give it up for now and just go to Izmir and see the sights in that region.

I’m feeling a tad better and decide to go to the Hamami, Turkish Bath to try and sweat out the toxins.  There is a very old Hamami not far from the hotel.  

Hamami sign upper left --around the corner

The “most famous” one is in Sultanahmet but I don’t want to go all the way down there.  

I walk to where I think the Hamami is and it only takes three  askings to find it.  I go inside and there is a man who doesn’t speak much English and points to the menu of services and prices.  I say I only want the “turkish bath” which is 50 TL (about $30.) and I still don’t really know what that means.  I pay and then he tells me I need to go around the corner to the woman’s entrance.  

I walk around the corner and halfway down the street when I see a sign that says Hamami.  

I walk up the stairs open the door and there is a woman, also who doesn’t speak English who points to a room and motions that I should take off my clothes and use the turkish towel (thin as paper) and wooden shoes to go to another room.  

So I take off all my clothes put on the wooden shoes, lock this room and walk to the “bath”.  

turkish towel and wooden shoes

When I open the door I see a marble slab in the middle of the room and walls filled with small basins that each have two water taps above them.  So for 50TL ($30.) I get to sit on a hot marble slab.--really.

There is only one other younger woman lying on the slab and she starts to talk to me, in English.  

“You need to lay out the turkish towel and lie on it.  Your body will take about 20 minutes to warm up,”  she tells me.

“o.k.  thank you,” I say and lay out my towel and lie down.

“We are very lucky that it is not crowded today.” she says.

“Because it’s Saturday? or just in general.”

“Both.  Actually it’s usually much more crowded.  But also when there are more people it is hotter inside as well.  I don’t think it’s hot enough.”

“Where are you from?” she asks.

“California”, I tell her.

“Do you come here often?” I ask.

“Yes, once a month.  It feels so good.  I have a very stressful job.”

“Oh what kind of work do you do?”

“I am a lawyer for a big bank.” she tells me.

I don't know why but I mention to her that I notice there are so many men and not many women around.

She says she doesn’t agree.  Actually she says she doesn’t find there are many men.  What she means is it’s difficult for her to find a man she can date and/or marry.  I ask her how old she is and she tells me, “32.”

I ask her if she wants to get married.  She tells me that she wants to fall in love and then get married.  I wish her luck with that.

I guess it’s difficult to find love no matter where you live.  

An older woman enters the “bath” and she is going to give this younger woman the body scrub and massage.

“You should have the massage and body scrub too.  It’s very good for the skin.” she tells me.

The body scrub is another 25TL the body scrub and massage with soap is another 50TL and if you want oil it’s 75 TL more.  I don’t think so.  I lay there for another while longer as the warm slab does feel very good.  

When I'm ready to leave, I think there should be a shower. No, I'm told to use the water taps at the basins on the wall to rinse off.  There is no soap, no shower, and this is not what I expected.  Another part of the journey.

I walk back to the hotel along Istikal Street and find another protest.  Lots of people and lots of police.  

the smoke in front of the police was actually just blown out of the man's mouth

Actually I remember when I went down the street to the Hamami an entire restaurant was filled with police officers.  This must be the third or fourth protest I’ve seen in the last two days.   

I ask the boys when I get back to the hotel what the people are protesting and am told they have much to protest about.  There are young people, old people angry at the government not happy with the universities.  I see most of the people waving red cards and see pictures of Che Guevara.

I see Ferit and  he says I look tired.  When I tell him that I’ve just been to the Hamami he says I need to have a rest after that.  So I go upstairs to my room.

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it but the people at this hotel are the best part of the place.  They go out of their way to make sure you have what you need and are extremely kind.  It helps a great deal because the down side to this hotel is the noise.  Maybe it’s just me.  

I stay in my room for a while and rest.  After a while I go downstairs and see Maria giving a Spanish lesson to one of the guys who works here.  

(Maria is 30+, from Mexico and came to Istanbul after being in Budapest for 3 months.  She had a marketing job in Mexico City that she quit and went to Budapest to take a TEOFL course so she can teach English.  Now she is trying to get a job in Istanbul teaching either Spanish or English.  She just doesn’t want to go back to Mexico.)

I decide to just go to the market to find something to eat because I’m not in the mood to go to a restaurant.  I walk down the street to the grocery store but don’t really find anything that appeals to me.  I buy a few waters and some dried apricots.  Boring and sick.

I watch some tv shows on my computer and fall asleep.

Only to be woken at, are you kidding me, 3:30 a.m. by the same f...king drums.  I can’t believe this.  I find my earphones and plug into Itunes hoping I can fall back to sleep.  I must have because the next time I check the time it’s after 7:00 a.m.