Something Frivolous for a Change

For most of the week I am the grubbiest girl you have ever seen. It's currently too cold to shower in Umphium, the refugee camp where I work, so washing is, for now, down to a minimum. The "showers" are bucket showers, performed by scooping incredibly cold water over your body. Actually, once you've gotten started, it's quite refreshing, but being brave enough to start is the hard part. Since it is rainy season, there are certain body parts which it is impossible to clean or keep clean, even directly after showering, most notably, the feet. Footwear generally consists of flip flop sandals or rubber boots, both of which do not lead to clean feet and since we live on a clay mountain side, we spend our days sloshing through and trying not to slip and fall into, the mud.

I am a teacher, so I dress respectably, however I cannot say that refugee camp style is the height of fashion. I wear clothes that are practical and that are usually at least partially covered in mud. My hairstyle is far from chic, either in pigtails or pushed back behind a bandanna. In short, none of this should surprise you, this is the laid back, back-country camping girl that you all know and mostly love.

But this weekend was a little different. This week, after emptying my guts in a variety of toilets around camp, I felt the need for a little tender loving care. So in the company of my good friend and fellow aid worker, Brooke, we declared this to be Mae Sot Spa Weekend.

On Saturday we began our indulgences with iced coffee from the air conditioned haven on Heaven Coffee shop. Then, we spent two hours getting our usual weekend Thai massage. Before you get too jealous you should know that Thai massage does not involve whale music, relaxing and soothing sounds or dimmed mood lighting and scented oils. It is more likely to involve two Thai women arguing loudly above you about whose butt is fatter, yours or the woman next to you. Sometimes the massage is soothing and relaxing, and sometimes it is acutely painful. And it's hard to tell which it is going to be before you begin.

Sunday morning, we began with an early breakfast of Chicken and Rice. All right, it's not luxurious, but there is no fancy breakfast to be had around here and anyone who tries for a Western Style feast is likely to be disappointed. So we stuck with the tried-and-true traditional breakfast and then set off for our facial.

I have never had a facial. Why would I? I don't have $100 to spend on my face when my face seems perfectly fine. But this weekend, we decided to splurge and spend the whole $5 it costs in Mae Sot for an hour worth of luxury.

Surprisingly, here the women were quiet and they turned off the loud Thai pop on the radio for some boy-band-pop from the 80's. I had various cremes, lotions and scrubs put on my face as well as a few machines and masks. In addition, I my face steamed and my nostrils cleaned (although I can't say I was too comfortable with the last). Best of all, my "facial" included a hand and foot massage as well as a brief back and shoulder massage.

Today I am clean, well dressed and I feel like a whole new woman - ready to face another week of cold water and mud!