I know you may have already seen this rather puzzling site of little fish feasting on the dead-skin on the feet of women and men in Alexandria. Yvonne Hair and Nail Salon to be exact. Talk about publicity! My first reaction was disgust and a little shock.
Than I read the article about the business owners that brought this old Turkish practice for treating psoriasis to the US. I thought... Turkey. Couldn't be. I am Turkish and we never let our fish eat feet.
And than suddenly I was bombarded by flashing images from my childhood. Pictures of jars filled with blood leeches bought at the local street market for my grandmother to treat her arthritis. Glass cups on my dad's back with burning cotton balls in their centers, old naked women smothering their bodies in hot mud baths, high wooden slippers on the hot stone of the Turkish bath with dating back to the Byzantine Empire.
I do remember. I remember the fish too. At one point my family went to a hot spring for holiday and they had them there.
I called my mother to ask her about it and she confirmed all the images and explained. She reminded me that the memories were a little tainted with fear because of my age at the time and the tendency for Turkish adults to scare the crap of their young instead of explaining stuff to them.
Ahhh.. A sigh of relief. Another thought came to mind. This may be proof to may advancing age. but imagine this... an afternoon at a nice women only Turkish bath offering gentle and hygienic fish pedicures guaranteed to remove all callasus, soaks in large tubs filled with warm therapeutic and aromatic Mediterranean mud, massages using soothing cups filled with lavender scented smoke on our tired backs and all followed by a slice of baklava and some Turkish coffee (of course a session with a cup reader to follow). I am thinking... Turkish bliss. Hey I even got a name. Turkish Bliss Bathhouse for the Tired Moms. Hahaha.
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