Yes! This is a major importance of Turkey Culture. It's the Turkish bathhouse, the hamam. Hamam means bath. People come together for bath and social. Not men and women together, they are separated. It is very important in Turkey because long time ago because flowing water was cold and people wanted hot water and so they solved it with bathhouses. The bathhouses have continued to today. Now I am ready to have my bath. Let’s go see what’s done. You want me to lie down on my front? Ok. I’m reminded that in Turkey there are many different kinds of Hamam. There is one by the name Roxelana and in Turkish language it is spelled as Hurrem. Roxelana was a woman from Ukraine. In the year around 1500, she was kidnapped and brought to Istanbul to work as a slave and then sold. An Ottoman servant saw her and bought her to a Sultan’s harem. Oh this is good! See the peeling. It is dead skin and the lotions, oils and dirt from your environment. We scrub off the old dead skin cells to allow new skin cells to glow. There’s a smell. It smells good like its refreshing my skin. The king did not own one woman he had many women. Roxelana was one of many women. The king noticed Roxelana. His heart would beat when he sees or looks at her. Many women were jealous of her. There was one woman who understood something. She had a boy who would later become a king. This woman and Roxelana were rivals. They fought. The king saw the rivalry between the two women. He asked the jealous woman to leave the harem. The king then asked Roxelana to marry him. Roxelana was no longer a slave. She became a free woman. Their marriage was a first of a kind in Ottoman culture. It was not accustomed for a king to legally marry a woman from a harem. This marked the first time. Roxelana was not only a mother she also helped the Sultan. She discussed philosophies and made advises. People really listened to her. Many men and women also loved her because she discouraged slavery. She asked to reduce slavery to none. She did not support war.

She wanted peace. She was an eloquent speaker. She easily impressed people. She was smart. She wanted something and she always welcomed people. She wanted for the most was for her son to become a king. She did not want the other woman with the first-born son to be king. She talked to her husband who was king of the house into killing his first-born son. I have to be careful not to slip and fall. I want to tell you something else. During the Ottoman time, the king and sultans had guards to protect their family and property. Many guards were deaf people. Why deaf people? It was believed because during private interactions made between a King and others, that their discussions and exchange of information would be disclosed from deaf people because they would not hear what was discussed. Also the king ordered deaf guards to behead villains. These deaf guards would take the king’s order. Then one day the king ordered a deaf guard to behead his first son whose mother was a rival to Roxelane. The deaf guard accepted the king’s order and beheaded his first son. I can’t imagine that a deaf person had done it. I’m done with my bath. I’m relaxing and breathing. I feel relaxed. I just realized something. It is important that we take care of ourselves. Why, because we live a fast paced life. We rush through things. We must stop and take a break. I ask you to come here take a bath and relax. Give yourself one or two hours to cleanse, give away stress and come out refreshed. Dead skin cells will be whipped off and pressure will be off your mind, too. Then you may return back to your life. I beg you to try this.