Another Face Pack

There were some things I knew eve just had to experience while in India. One was an ayurvedic massage. So while in Fort Cochin I scheduled her a full body massage at a recommended ayurvedic clinic. She was excited. Afterwards she was in such an altered state she had to take a walk by herself. I will leave eve’s story for her to tell you – and do make her tell – it is most hilarious.
While eve was having her massage I figured id get another face pack and head and shoulders massage. It had been long enough since my first one that I had started reminiscing about someone rubbing my head with such ferocity that half of my hair falls out during the process (it really does). And I guess I just didn’t feel up for the full body massage that day. (eve’s story will enlighten you as to how someone could not be “up for” a massage.)
But the women who were my massagers didn’t understand this, and weren’t having it. All communication is once again in charades as we did not share a language. Apparently the guys downstairs who I spoke English with about what I wanted didn’t talk with these women. They kept motioning to my whole body, to take off my clothes and I kept motioning to just my head and neck and face and that’s all. For some reason the only way I could think to charade this was to make the cutting off my head motion. You know – stop after my neck. It didn’t work that well. After multiple attempts to communicate to one another, these sweet women just got tired of it and took my shirt off for me. They were gentle but firm and there was no way to resist these women from busily yanking off my clothes. I thought this was particularly funny since at my last facial they wouldn’t let me take off my shirt. They kept trying for my pants but I won on this one. I just wasn’t having it. I wanted it my way. I got this way at the end of my stay – I just wanted sometimes to have something the way I wanted. Even if they thought this was dumb.

They were the most caring and tender women ever. Between the two of them my face pack turned into a full body massage through my pants, and they would take turns with one massaging while the other smacked mosquitos off of me. The room had an open window through which I could hear some guy chanting in the courtyard. Sometimes when I opened my eyes the older woman would have her face 1 inch away from mine staring intently into my face. This was disconcerting and provoked multiple laughing fits. She just wanted to make sure everything was ‘okay’ but it is really funny to have a stranger do this. And like how you cant stop looking at something you don’t want to look at – I just couldn’t help myself from opening my eyes to see her staring at me from one inch away and would start laughing all over again.

At the end of my massage I decided I wanted to shower at our homestay one block away rather than at the clinic. This is very logical because that’s where my clean clothes were. This was the MOST illogical thing to them EVER. But again – I was feeling stubborn that day and wanted to just have this one thing MY WAY.

So again the charades started. Me uselessly talking away, her pulling on my pants - again. This went on for quite awhile. I started laughing. Because remember I am topless, I have dried mud all over my face, and I am in a bathroom with a very old Indian woman in a beautiful purple sari who is trying to pull my pants off – AGAIN!
I won.
Well, kind of. I didn’t shower. She showered me. With my pants on.

I think finally she decided I was a little slow and took my upper body and grabbed my head and put it under the shower and with her other hand rinsed my face. This took awhile because the mud gets everywhere. A few times I tried to take over but she had had enough. She clucked away at me and kept rinsing me like I was a small child. Then she toweled me off and still clucking led me back to the massage room. Where her massaging partner looked at me and they clucked together with lots of waving and shaking of the head. The other woman was obviously also very unhappy about the fact that I had not showered. She went and got another towel and grabbed my head, put it in her space and began to rub it ferociously. I just let her have it. My head I mean. Then she showed me the towel with all the mud stains on it clucking and shaking her head. I just looked at her, feeling a little woozy but somehow very cared for, and smiled.

Then as eve went off on her solitary walk to digest her massage experience (im telling you – ask her about it!) I went back to our little homestay to shower. Hah!

When I got to our homestay – lulu the homestay owner, who was more like our fort cochin mother, asked about our day. When I told her I had just had a massage and nonchalantly mentioned that I had just come home to shower she stopped in her tracks. She turned and seemingly shocked said ‘You did not shower there?!’

I couldn’t believe this. It was like I never learned and I would never hear the end of me not showering at the clinic. I ended up just walking away and went up to my room to shower in peace. Sometimes you just have to assert yourself and fight for your independence. And sometimes this just ends up being way, WAY more work than it’s worth.