So, in preparation for my third (and final) wedding reception my MIL (Seema) asked if I would like to go to the spa to get a facial and what have you.
Of course I would.
So my SIL (Poonam) and MIL arranged a spa date for me. Poonam was initially going to come but Taisha was sick, so Poonam couldn't join. They asked if I would be ok going by myself. I had one question: Do they speak English? I was told that they did, so I had no problem going alone.
On the car ride there I was wondering what the sterilization techniques would be. What about nail fungus? What do I do if I get there and the sterilization isn't what I'm used to? Its a Spa, they must have some sort of sterilization.
So we walk in, its a small, but clean spa. I quickly notice the UV sterilizer on a desk near the back! Awesome. Excellent. Time to relax.
They discussed what to do with my MIL and I just sat back and waited since I had no idea what was going on.... they got it all hashed out and off my MIL went.
First up: Pedicure.
Not quite the pedicure we're used to in the US, but I enjoyed its charm. They just fill nice warm water into a large bowl and in your feet go. Within 2-3 minutes I established that the lady doing my pedicure didn't speak much english, but lets be honest...anyone who has gotten a mani/pedi at a nail spa in the US is used to not being able to communicate with the technician...
After the nice foot soak comes the tools. Out of a chaotic drawer. When she is done, they go back in the chaotic drawer. Obviously that UV sterilizer isn't used quite as often as I would hope. But its too late to turn back now. Cheers to no nail fungus!
I will say, it was one of the more thorough pedicures I have ever had. In the US nail salons, I feel like they have a schedule. Clip cuticles for x minutes, slough dead skin for x minutes, rub the calves with both hands for 5 strokes, rub the arches for 3 strokes and so on and so on. I did not get one ounce of that feeling here. One of the longest foot/leg massages I have ever had as part of a pedicure. It was so enjoyable I was thinking about a nap.
So after I'm all clipped and massaged up, the lady realizes she's out of some cream that she needs, so she asks someone else to get her more so she can re-fill it. (Ok, this conversation happened entirely in Hindi or Punjabi, but that is what I assume they said based on my visual observations of the situation).
You know what that UV sterilizer is for? Storing creams and potions and lotions! Who would have thought!
Now that the pedicure is over, I have to answer the same question about 15 times:
"You don't want face bleaching?"
Uh, do I look to you like I need face bleaching? I think I'm the poster child for face bleaching. Now, granted it has other benefits I suppose, evening skin tone and what not. But let's be real. There were ladies in there getting their hands and feet bleached...I don't think they were concerned about the uneven tone of their feet....
Anyway, as I'm sitting and waiting, in storms the owner. (And by storms I mean that in the nicest way) She just sort of came in a whirlwind of questions and instructions for the employees. She said hi, and came over and immediately started studying and touching my face. "Hmm, Dry skin. Ok, come with me" Immediately I'm cheering "English!" "English!" YAAAYY
So she takes me back to the facial area, which is essentially a cubicle, whatever, and leaves me with two employees....and...we're back to no English. So whatever, we use gestures and a few words to establish I'm supposed to take my shirt off and put on this gown thing. Standard facial operating procedure. So I gown up and hop on the table. Back comes the owner. Asks one final time if I want face bleaching. I tell her I was born pre-bleached. She laughs and says ok.
Onto that facial.
Remember how wonderful that foot massage was? The facial massage was 10x better. Now, it had its quirks too. She'd put a cream on, and tell me to lay there for 15 minutes. In the cubicle. Where you can hear everything else going on. But can understand none of it. You're alone, but you're not alone, and you can't understand, and you can't see. Sort of a super odd feeling. Anyway. After some of these incubation periods she comes and gave me the heaven's massage. I swear, 20+ solid minutes of rubbing my face and upper chest, and ears, and once an areola. I don't think I've ever had my ears rubbed. It was fantastic.
Probably the most odd situation of all of this, was the fact that no one has any issues with cleaning out your ears. Cream got in the ears? Water? Whatever it is, it's ok, they'll just stick their finger in and get it out. This doesn't really bother me in theory, but I was completely unprepared. Its sort of a rule I've gotten used to, you don't put your fingers in anyone else's orifices. I just let it happen...
Final Event: Hair Spa.
Translation: Hair Spa = Deep conditioning.
So after this wonderful facial. I have this conditioning done. As I'm sitting here while some lady and some dude paint conditioner onto my hair section by section, I decide to try to ask some questions. Maybe the dude knows more english? So I ask: "Do a lot of people bleach their skin?" The two of them look at each other, then the guy goes "Skin?" to her, and she says it back. Yep...No English. So we all sit their awkwardly, I think and say "Do a lot of people bleach their face?" That they got, and he said yes. This was all going to lead into a conversation about how I think its so ironic that people in India bleach their faces, and use skin lightening creams, and caucasians in the US spend a shit ton of money, and risk cancer to tan their skin. Obviously that conversation wasn't going to happen. But I was still curious about this skin bleaching.
So then I asked "Do men bleach their face?" The guy processes for a minute, then says "Mens?" And confirmed that men do it too. We then established that it burns/hurts. I think we were both exhausted after that much/little conversation so we decided we were done talking.
Note: I might have been a bit over dramatic. They probably know more english than I could realize. But I'm sure my accent and phrasing threw them off. I don't think they were comfortable using English, but they knew enough to give me the instructions I needed. There was one lady (besides the owner) that knew the most, so I'd always try to shoot her a look if I needed instructions.
Of course I would.
So my SIL (Poonam) and MIL arranged a spa date for me. Poonam was initially going to come but Taisha was sick, so Poonam couldn't join. They asked if I would be ok going by myself. I had one question: Do they speak English? I was told that they did, so I had no problem going alone.
On the car ride there I was wondering what the sterilization techniques would be. What about nail fungus? What do I do if I get there and the sterilization isn't what I'm used to? Its a Spa, they must have some sort of sterilization.
So we walk in, its a small, but clean spa. I quickly notice the UV sterilizer on a desk near the back! Awesome. Excellent. Time to relax.
They discussed what to do with my MIL and I just sat back and waited since I had no idea what was going on.... they got it all hashed out and off my MIL went.
First up: Pedicure.
Not quite the pedicure we're used to in the US, but I enjoyed its charm. They just fill nice warm water into a large bowl and in your feet go. Within 2-3 minutes I established that the lady doing my pedicure didn't speak much english, but lets be honest...anyone who has gotten a mani/pedi at a nail spa in the US is used to not being able to communicate with the technician...
After the nice foot soak comes the tools. Out of a chaotic drawer. When she is done, they go back in the chaotic drawer. Obviously that UV sterilizer isn't used quite as often as I would hope. But its too late to turn back now. Cheers to no nail fungus!
I will say, it was one of the more thorough pedicures I have ever had. In the US nail salons, I feel like they have a schedule. Clip cuticles for x minutes, slough dead skin for x minutes, rub the calves with both hands for 5 strokes, rub the arches for 3 strokes and so on and so on. I did not get one ounce of that feeling here. One of the longest foot/leg massages I have ever had as part of a pedicure. It was so enjoyable I was thinking about a nap.
So after I'm all clipped and massaged up, the lady realizes she's out of some cream that she needs, so she asks someone else to get her more so she can re-fill it. (Ok, this conversation happened entirely in Hindi or Punjabi, but that is what I assume they said based on my visual observations of the situation).
You know what that UV sterilizer is for? Storing creams and potions and lotions! Who would have thought!
Now that the pedicure is over, I have to answer the same question about 15 times:
"You don't want face bleaching?"
Uh, do I look to you like I need face bleaching? I think I'm the poster child for face bleaching. Now, granted it has other benefits I suppose, evening skin tone and what not. But let's be real. There were ladies in there getting their hands and feet bleached...I don't think they were concerned about the uneven tone of their feet....
Anyway, as I'm sitting and waiting, in storms the owner. (And by storms I mean that in the nicest way) She just sort of came in a whirlwind of questions and instructions for the employees. She said hi, and came over and immediately started studying and touching my face. "Hmm, Dry skin. Ok, come with me" Immediately I'm cheering "English!" "English!" YAAAYY
So she takes me back to the facial area, which is essentially a cubicle, whatever, and leaves me with two employees....and...we're back to no English. So whatever, we use gestures and a few words to establish I'm supposed to take my shirt off and put on this gown thing. Standard facial operating procedure. So I gown up and hop on the table. Back comes the owner. Asks one final time if I want face bleaching. I tell her I was born pre-bleached. She laughs and says ok.
Onto that facial.
Remember how wonderful that foot massage was? The facial massage was 10x better. Now, it had its quirks too. She'd put a cream on, and tell me to lay there for 15 minutes. In the cubicle. Where you can hear everything else going on. But can understand none of it. You're alone, but you're not alone, and you can't understand, and you can't see. Sort of a super odd feeling. Anyway. After some of these incubation periods she comes and gave me the heaven's massage. I swear, 20+ solid minutes of rubbing my face and upper chest, and ears, and once an areola. I don't think I've ever had my ears rubbed. It was fantastic.
Probably the most odd situation of all of this, was the fact that no one has any issues with cleaning out your ears. Cream got in the ears? Water? Whatever it is, it's ok, they'll just stick their finger in and get it out. This doesn't really bother me in theory, but I was completely unprepared. Its sort of a rule I've gotten used to, you don't put your fingers in anyone else's orifices. I just let it happen...
Final Event: Hair Spa.
Translation: Hair Spa = Deep conditioning.
So after this wonderful facial. I have this conditioning done. As I'm sitting here while some lady and some dude paint conditioner onto my hair section by section, I decide to try to ask some questions. Maybe the dude knows more english? So I ask: "Do a lot of people bleach their skin?" The two of them look at each other, then the guy goes "Skin?" to her, and she says it back. Yep...No English. So we all sit their awkwardly, I think and say "Do a lot of people bleach their face?" That they got, and he said yes. This was all going to lead into a conversation about how I think its so ironic that people in India bleach their faces, and use skin lightening creams, and caucasians in the US spend a shit ton of money, and risk cancer to tan their skin. Obviously that conversation wasn't going to happen. But I was still curious about this skin bleaching.
So then I asked "Do men bleach their face?" The guy processes for a minute, then says "Mens?" And confirmed that men do it too. We then established that it burns/hurts. I think we were both exhausted after that much/little conversation so we decided we were done talking.
Note: I might have been a bit over dramatic. They probably know more english than I could realize. But I'm sure my accent and phrasing threw them off. I don't think they were comfortable using English, but they knew enough to give me the instructions I needed. There was one lady (besides the owner) that knew the most, so I'd always try to shoot her a look if I needed instructions.
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