old men do it best
so i was invited to go to a hemam the other night by a man i met here. all i knew about these places is that lots of men get together in a sauna-like place and bathe. so we get there and everyone's in their underwear. except for this big black guy who feels the need to be naked. i can't imagine why... sowesit down on the floor, yes everyone's on the floor, and get big buckets of hot water and start washing. so i'm basically doing what my friend is doing and after washing our hair three times he asks if i'd like a massage. of course. i like massages. so he calls over this wrinkly old man in nothing but a loan cloth. and he squats down and grabs my arm and starts jerking me about. then washing me. oh yes, i get scrubbed down by an 80 year old arabic man. he definatly washes just about every inch of my body with his bare hands, pulls me backwards over his knees until i almost black out, makes me lie down on the floor and shoves his knee into my back and then takes this washclothe which feels like sandpaper and scrubs all the dead skin off every inch of my body. i have been violated. no worse than in the pha house mind you, but this was a stranger. after that ordeal, we moved to the cooler washing room where you do your own scrubbing. or so i thought. as i'm trying to soap up my back this kid, he must have been about 15, offers to help. who am i to refuse? i don't want to be a snotty american. so he comes over and gets carried away or something and i get a second going-over. not quite as intense as the old man but still enough to feel as if the kid took a little part of me with him. suprisingly, at the end of the night i felt cleaner than i ever have. my new baby-smooth skin is the envy of the expatriate community. needless to say, this country will probably now be flooded with phas wanting to get a piece of the action. but then men here go to the hemam once a week at least. which means not only are they cleaner than all of us, they're also a lot gayer. but man, i got a working-over from that old guy. he reminded me of ghandi. except not a pacifist.
posted by Justin at 9:27 am
5 Comments:
Who could be better at violating you, Justin: The old guy or Brad?
reading this post has made mine colt's and roger's day. I'm sure it would have made paul's day as well but he doesn't understand what I am saying just yet. we're all glad to hear that you are getting your fill of gay incounters. we were afraid you would get home sick because of the lack of gayness. But now that we know that there is plenty of gayness in your new homeland our hearts jump for joy. we still miss you though.
Brad-
So here's the thing... You may read about this experience and think, "Gee...Justin is so innocent and must have really been violated; all Morrocans are totally gay." This isn't true. I practiced this same ritual with Justin during our time in the house. It's not gay, it "cleansing." As I read this all I could think about is Dewayne being one of those guys that scrubbed others coming out in his leather thong and making untranslatable monosyllabic noises. All the same this experience should be enough to let everyone in the house know that the affection that I showed to my brothers is normal in every other part of the world, and not gay.
Wow. Morrocco is way cooler than Oxford. Way. But soccer is really appreciated here. I made the mistake of going into a pub on a Saturday during a football game--all the men gave me dirty looks until I left with my cheese sandwich and coffee. I do live across the street from a mosque though. We wanna have a big house party, but we're thinking of waiting until Ramadan is over. Have fun being washed by young boys and old men.
--Marshelle
Sounds quite exhilarating.
Post a Comment
<< Home