Maybe I'm not meant to be clean

I want to prefix this blog post by saying that it was never my intention to have a blog about showering and to my knowledge no other volunteer in my village is having any problems or confusion with their Banyas. Apparently I’m just no good at bathing. Week three in my village and second Sunday of the adventure (technically third but I spent the second one at an “undisclosed location” so no stories about showering there. Sorry), that means it’s Banya time! I was super excited for my warm Sunday Banya as we have had cold, rainy weather for about a week now. I know I explained last time that a Banya is basically a sauna room where you shower.

This room is heated, of course, by fire. There is an old metal stove/oven in the Banya with a thick metal chimney that takes the smoke out of the room. I hope you all are following so far. I decided that I wanted my clothes to be warm post banya so I laid them out nicely on top of the metal fire pit/ stove/ oven thingy. My glasses were fogged up so it took me a minute to realize that I had actually managed to lay my synthetic-spandex-type-material Under Armor shirt on the chimney portion of the stove, and it was now engulfed in flames. Acting fast I moved it to the floor and threw cold water on it. The black shirt then proceeded to turn green and then melt back together a couple sizes smaller and missing the majority of a left arm. Oops.

Besides my lack in Banya ability things are going great. I spend the majority of my days in Kyrgyz class and will have the opportunity to start teaching at the local school once a week. For my first lesson I have been instructed to teach the concept and vocabulary associated with Halloween to a room full of 9th graders. We’ll see how that goes. I’m guessing it will involve a lot of practice screaming---and candy of course. As all classes should.

Below is my address in case you want to send me an awesome care-package. It’s best to copy it from here so it’s in both English and Kyrgyz.

Kyrgyzstan,
725000, Kant city
97 Lenina Street, RUPS
Mailbox # 22
Joanna Ison

Кыргызстан,
ин. 725000, г. Кант
ул. Ленина 97, РУПС
аб. ящик № 22
Joanna Ison