Day 83 – Indian Massage

The last time I slept in my own bed was 3/26/08 and since then I have slept on a firm (rock hard) bed on the cruise, approximately eight different couches, one floor (Thanks, Noel!), and have spent over 45 hours sitting in airplanes. Needless to say, my back really started bothering me this past week. When I talked to our host Paul about this, he recommended I go get a traditional Full-Body Indian Massage. As Paul works so hard with his ministry and rarely focuses on himself, we made a deal that if he made the appointments, I would pay for both of us… So we headed to the spa first thing this morning.

For those of you who have never had a full body massage in the States, your missing out. For those who have, I’ll use the standard U.S. spa experience as my benchmark for this description: I’ll preface this by saying that the spa we went to was very nice. That said, rather than a nice padded massage table, the Indians use a large cherry-wood table with no padding. Rather than sheets on the table, they had you a small loin-cloth, literally a swatch of material with two dental floss strings that tie around your waist. Rather than lotion, they use copious amounts of hot oil that smells like tea to the extent that your swimming in it, and last but not least, rather than woman masseuse they have a man… This last difference is due to the issues the have with Commercial Sex Workers in Asia and trying to keep things reputable. After a forty-five minute massage, they stick you in this “steam box” (like a refrigerator with a whole at the top so your head can stick out) and melt all the oil off for fifteen minutes.. Next, you go take a shower with a mud scrub. And lastly, they give you some type of herbal drink that is supposed to help with digestion. All in, though it was a new experience, the massage was great and my back is doing much better! Not bad for only $20.00 (especially when compared to the $75+ I would pay back home).

After the spa, Paul and I headed to this food court on the lake in the middle of the city for lunch.

Around 5:00 pm, the team headed out for our nightly performance… Tonight, we were one of four bands playing at the GAP Show (Gospel Artist Performances – partial flyer pictured above). Two of the bands were Christian Metal bands, and the other band was a jazz band from the Ivory Coast of Africa. It was great to be a part of an event that gave young folks an alternative to the regular Friday night scene. Overall, the day was a success! We actually made good friends with the African Band and they have invited us over to there place for lunch this coming week.

God is love!

Until next time,
Omar