Something's Fishy

I don't have anything new to report on the Foreign Service front this week (other than a job interview that was pretty terrible; I'll let you know when they tell me I didn't get it), but there's something I've been meaning to tell you all about. It didn't really work as a "Things I Love Thursday" item, and "Things That Were Kind of Weird But Not Totally Awful" just doesn't have the same ring to it.

A couple of weeks ago, Courtney and I got the "doctor fish" pedicure. You may have heard of this, although it's now only done right here in Alexandria, at least in the United States, anyway (everyone else lost their license because of sanitation concerns; reassuring, right?). This is the pedicure where a couple dozen tiny fish eat the dead flesh off of your feet. I know. It sounds disgusting. And it kind of is. But it's one of those once-in-a-lifetime things that I'm all about trying these days (just like the Gotye concert last night, which totally rocked, btw; more on that later). Right now I'm running under the assumption that I'll only ever regret the things I didn't do. It's certainly been true in my life so far, and life is way too short to have regrets. So, I don't regret the fish pedicure. But it's not something that ever needs to be repeated.

Yes, those are actually my feet.

So, what exactly does it feel like, you ask? It feels like a bunch of small insects crawling all over your feet. It's tickly and creepy and bizarrely pleasant all at the same time. I mean, you figure all these little sucking fish must be doing something to your calluses, and there's some gratification in that. Although I'm pretty sure that what really got rid of my calluses was the cheese grater treatment I paid an extra five bucks for. The smiling faces of the ladies of The View, beaming down at me from a giant poster on one of the walls in the salon, helped somewhat. I figure if it's good enough for Barbara Walters, it's good enough for me.

But mostly I had to distract myself from the tiny fish wriggling between my toes and pecking rather violently at the sensitive underside of my feet by talking to Courtney. Fifteen minutes was almost too long. And apparently there are some places in the world where you can immerse your entire body in a pool with the fish, as a treatment for skin conditions like psoriasis. The only way I'd ever get in a pool with those fish is if I was unconscious. I shudder at the thought of having those fish ALL OVER me, exploring various crevices. Ewwwww!

So there you have it, folks. I tried the doctor fish pedicure and lived to tell about it. Hey, at least the fish got a free meal out of the deal. And I got a pair of soft tootsies that lasted about a week.