So I have a tendency sometimes not to fully explain my titles, it’s a bad habit. I do think a lot about every word, so this time, I won’t leave anyone hanging.
Dirty, I do believe, has a whole new meaning when you’re washing your clothes by hand. I did this for the first time yesterday. I was waiting until my language was good enough to ask about laundry politely, a decision I now regret. But that’s for later.
See, clothes need to be a whole lot dirtier if you’re going to squat with them, over a bowl of soapy water, grinding each article into itself. As I watched the chickens cluck about the yard around me, for the first time I envied their choice of wardrobe.
At one point I discovered that you could soap up one sock, and smash it into its pair, instead of washing one at a time! But then my sister-in-law caught me, and helped me do them over again.
I also had the luxury of bathing yesterday. See, my house doesn’t have plumbing, so this means bucket bathes – but not how you’d think. The experience, while resource intensive, is really quite pleasant. We have a thing called a баня (banya) (as most of my fellow trainees do;) it’s effectively a do-it-yourself steam room.
The heart of it is an old steal furnace. You feed it with wood through a hatch in the attached “changing room,” then enter the banya itself. First you seal yourself inside with the heavy metal door, then draw scalding water from a reservoir atop the furnace, mix it with cold water in a separate tub, and do your thing! I shampoo, lather (with a loufa!), and even shave (using an old rear-view mirror, of course!)
It’s hot, it’s sweaty, and when you come out, you feel clean as a whistle! Stories abound of host brothers coming in to scrub your back (as there’s plenty of room,) but unfortunately I’ve no first-hand experience. I don’t have the schedule down quite yet, but so far it seems we do it around once or twice a week.
Turns out the sunburn I got last week was a fluke. This month has been characterized by cold rain. Today started out much of the same, but now it is lightly snowing. My older brother (the guy I originally thought was a brother-in-law) insisted on fueling my меш (mesh,) the built-in, coal-fired heater in my room. The smoke runs through a series of ducts in the wall to heat the place. What all this weather means for my clothes drying under a tin roof, outside on the line, I don’t even want to think about.
Well, that’s all for now folks. Thanks again for all your responses. Sounds like I might get a few early potatoes, but odds are slim. Also, on a clerical note, are you folks seeing a long list of email addresses with each letter? If so, I’ll try to find a way to hide them.
Originally Written April 15th, 2009
