a more frivolous day after some serious reading

This is a more frightening sign than if they were opening the fueling bays for their intercontinental missiles.

Q was up until the wee hours making the fresh meat-homemade-organic-special-vitamins-and –ground bone-sent from America-cat-food last night. I have no fear for the dietary health of my future grand children, and THIS is the healthiest cat in all of Africa!

We are off this day to take advantage of the decadent luxuries, are you listening Dulwichmum, offered in Souissi. Suzanne, who knows everything I will write of her soon, said the best hair and body place in Rabat is Jacques de Institut Dessange Apparently there is one treatment offered that takes all day, called 1001 Arabian Nights. Ooooooh. They start with the hamman where they scrape you down to all new skin cells that glow like a baby’s butt, then they oil you down with musk so you smell like the king’s harem (the old king, the new king is much more modern) and glisten.

While this is going on two other women sneak in: this is from our experience in Fez where we learned there is no good way to say, “Please don’t wax my ass!” in any language. A bit distressing that. I intend to sit firmly on anything I don’t want ripped off today, use your own visualizations. It is considered “hygienic”, a word that gets used to the point of pushing up against the popularity of the oft-uttered “Inshallah”. Hygienic in this part of the world apparently translates to: not a strand of hair anywhere on your body save your head! I’m all for hygienic, but I draw the line in certain areas. Q felt herself lucky to walk out of the salon in Fez with her eyebrows in tact. The common consensus among the women in the salon (the five working on her exclusively) was that she wanted to keep her eyebrows “au natural” because she is “modern”. Yes, that’s it.

Normally during the waxing experience there is another woman at your head washing your hair in some luscious smelling lather and massaging your head. Then you get a total rinse off, wrapped in a huge towel and they put the conditioner on your hair and take you off for the manicure/pedicure portion of our program.

Here is where I always have a contradiction of desires. I am a Scot; it is in my nature to want a “deal”. I lost the bones in both my large toes to frostbite on Everest in 1968, which means I have only eight toenails. I mean really what will they do to the two attractive, but none the less “nubs with a scar” that pass for my large toes. I will say, showing cultural differences, I did have a manicurist in Beverly Hills say to me once, “You know I could paste a false nail on those for you. It would look just like the real thing.” Yes you have to love Hollywood the land of make believe, and all those movie stars really look like that up close, uh huh.

Back to the dilemma, having only the eight nails I feel I should get 20% off the pedicure. I mean really? But I have yet to find a taker for that bit of Scottish logic. And I do so love having a good pedicure, so there lies the rub.

During the pedicure the hairdresser comes over and takes care of the cutting, drying, and styling. And let me tell you, frizzy curly headed women of the world, head for Morocco because when they blow your hair out straight they say, “That will last for one week,” in a voice any U.S. Marine Drill Sgt. would be proud to call his own. And it does!

This is our first time to try a salon here in Rabat, as we were so happy with the one in Fez it was worth the train trip back. Q is still going back to have them highlight her hair again before leaving for NYU because they did such a splendid job. I am trying to think of the name to give them a plug! Because we know where it is, I don’t remember the name. I will find it and list it later.

After our complete totting up this morning-afternoon and I think Q is having a massage. We are having lunch in the Mega Mall in Souissi. I don’t know, have no idea; I shall tell you upon our return.

After lunch if we have any energy left we are going out to visit a riding stable to possibly set something up or the gym called “Moving” over near the salon. It should be a busy day. I will let you know.. ta ta.