I genuinely did enjoy watching other students do their cultural presentations. I sort of figured in the beginning that I would grow bored listening to student after student present on cultures I knew nothing about, I actually found that everyone picked topics that was interesting and more importantly easy to relate to. Many of the students had even visited the countries that they were discussing and so they were able to add a personal aspect to their presentations, sharing their own stories and even pictures and artifacts from the culture. One such presenter was Caroline, who did her project on Hamams, but was able to also share her own stories from her experience at a Turkish Hamam.
I had visited the Roman Bath's in England and so I knew that their had been a custom of public bathing, but I did not know that Turkey also shared in this tradition, and that this tradition continues today. Caroline did a great job of showing the progression of the Hamams, explaining that they had once only been a place for men, but that separate Hamams had opened for women after the realization that they had sanitary benefits. I especially found it interesting that in Turkey a woman is allowed to divorce her husband if he does not allow her to visit a Hamam. I think that what really struck me about this concept was trying to imagine it in a North American setting. I believe that it's cultural traditions, such as Hamams, that really show the differences in lifestyles and personalities across cultures. In one of our first readings we read about how some cultures are more physical than others. The United States has a very non-physical cultures where everyone is very conscious of their own personal space. For this reason, I believe that Hamams would not be able to exist in the US because people would not want to visit a place where others bath and where they would be touched by another person. Although massage does exist in the US, bathing is not part of this process and seems to me much more intimate. Because this tradition exists in Turkey, it shows that people are more open to touching and are not as concerned about having another person enter their space and be close. Caroline also mentioned how this was a place of relaxation. For me, I know that I would not be able to truly relax at a Hamam, and perhaps that other Americans would not be able to either, defeating its purpose.
Additionally, Caroline was able to share stories about her experience in the Hamam. I enjoyed this personal touch because it was nice to hear from a person that had actually seen what she was discussing. I think more than learning actual facts about Hamams, I gained a better understanding of Turkish lifestyles.
Replies