Thor Advantage August 2010 : Page 8

 FEATUREARTICLE BELLY DANCING, DEAD SEA MUD AND MEXICAN PARTYING! By Patricia Edwards-Konic Time stands still in a Turkish bath. I had no idea how long I had been there nor how long I would stay until finished. I t all started when a daughter invited her mother to go to the Turkish baths for a Mother’s Day gift. Mother’s Day is the fi rst day of spring in Ramallah (West Bank Palestine), and they kindly invited me to join them on this special day. It was a fi rst-time experience for all of us and it started in the steam room, where you can barely see the person sitting next to you. As we chatted with the other women in the room, I mentioned I was from the United States. Th e next thing I knew, the women were singing and dancing, Palestinian style, to welcome me. Then they started encouraging everyone to join in – including me, a fi rst-timer to belly dancing. I can’t even imagine what I must have looked like in my shorts, t-shirt and oversized sandals trying to mirror their graceful arm movements and hip shakes. After the steam room, we ventured to the sauna and then to a treatment room 8EIGHT THOR ADVANTAGE AUGUSTISSUE for a full body peel where all of the dead skin is scrubbed off of the body.My fi rst real massage was next, but first we rested on the Bedouin cushions where, I must admit, I took a short nap. I felt so relaxed! As I lay on the cushions dozing in and out, the same women who belly danced and sang with me in the steam room were now kneeling in prayer. At the end of the day I refl ected on how grateful I was for this afternoon. Being able

Feature

Patricia Edwards-Konic

It all started when a daughter invited her mother to go to the Turkish baths for a Mother’s Day gift. Mother’s Day is the fi rst day of spring in Ramallah (West Bank Palestine), and they kindly invited me to join them on this special day. It was a fi rst-time experience for all of us and it started in the steam room, where you can barely see the person sitting next to you. As we chatted with the other women in the room, I mentioned I was from the United States. Th e next thing I knew, the women were singing and dancing, Palestinian style, to welcome me. Th en they started encouraging everyone to join in – including me, a fi rst-timer to belly dancing. I can’t even imagine what I must have looked like in my shorts, t-shirt and oversized sandals trying to mirror their graceful arm movements and hip shakes. After the steam room, we ventured to the sauna and then to a treatment room for a full body peel where all of the dead skin is scrubbed off of the body. My fi rst real massage was next, but fi rst we rested on the Bedouin cushions where, I must admit, I took a short nap. I felt so relaxed! As I lay on the cushions dozing in and out, the same women who belly danced and sang with me in the steam room were now kneeling in prayer. At the end of the day I refl ected on how grateful I was for this afternoon. Being able To meet women who welcomed me into their culture and taught me the basics of belly dancing went above any hospitality I have experienced in my life. Whether belly dancing at a resort in Israel or Jordan, it is an experience not to be missed. You want sexy? Nothing is sexier than being covered in mud at the Dead Sea. At the lowest elevation on earth, people from around the world come to bathe themselves in the healing mud. Resort hotels off er the option to have a professional mud bath or to go to the seashore for the do-it-yourself experience. People you are unacquainted with help you to slather on mud. It doesn’t take long before everyone is sitting in it, laughing and exchanging personal information. Inhibitions fl ee when everyone looks the same – black mud covering all parts of the body, even on one’s face. From the Dead Sea mud I traveled to the clearness of Th e Red Sea in Egypt. After a long, hot bus ride from Cairo, I fi nally arrived at the Mövenpick Resort. Th e room was splendid but I dropped my bags and headed outside. Sometimes sexy means a cool dip in the pool overlooking the coast or walking hand in hand along the shore as the sun dips behind the barren hills. I ended my perfect day at the Red Sea eating on the patio while enjoying the magnifi cent view. More recently I spent the day at ME Cabo by Meliá. Th is Mexican resort on the Baja advertises itself as the “hippest and hottest urban resort where the fabulous come to stay and play.” Sports and movie stars can be seen mingling with people at destination bachelorette and bachelor parties. Hot tub rooms provide romantic interludes to the hot partying of the Nikki Beach cabanas or Th e Passion Club fi re pit. Th e heat was defi nitely turned up at the luxurious ME Cabo as I toured the YHI Los Cabos Spa. Th e extensive treatment menu is partially derived from Mayan and Aztec rituals and woven into European traditions in a Zen-like atmosphere. Including couples massages and a sweat lodge with a Shaman, there are over 7,000 square feet of treatment facilities. Th e Hydrotherapy Ritual Center in Cabo San Lucas includes indoor and outdoor relaxation areas, thermo-hydrotherapy experiences, a native Temascal sweat lodge and an outdoor waterfall with a cascadeshower. Guests are invited to arrive an hour early to experience YHI Spa’s unique “Water Rituals” hydrotherapy circuit that involves a series of heated and scented massage showers set up along a path of heated stones leading to an outside spa therapy pool. Th e staff was attentive and welcoming. Whether traveling domestically or internationally, many options are available at sexy resorts and spas. As the year progresses, may you fi nd time to enjoy one yourself! .

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