Russian Banya

Sorry for not writing or even sending pictures last week y'all...it's been crazy lately and I have so many people to write to and I want to tell y'all everything!!..

so to make up for it, here's the most "russian" experience I have had as of yet: A Russian Banya

thursday I went to the Russian banya: a bathhouse. let me say, I was a little anxious, because I had no idea what ot expect. I went with my neighbor, Galina, and my two friends, Aubree and Kristine. We had to wait in line, and yeah...so you go in, and it's basically a locker room. fine. and then you get undressed. lol. our neighbor was done and waiting for us before we were ready to go into the bath room. so we go in...and there are about 40 other women in there. all without clothes! haha..most of them are old, and so we weren't really that embarrassed. it was a little (quite) awkward at first, but once you realize that everyone is without clothes...it's really quite normal. and it's the first place I have felt the communicty that Russians always talk about, "we're so communal" "we're always sticking up for each other" "we just stick it through"..no, in their everyday lives its man eat man etc...so this was great, it was an equlizer!
first, you pick a bench that has a bucket and you fill up the bucket with scalding hot water and clean off your bench...you don't want somebody else's soap! and then you mix the hot/cold to get a comfortable temp...and then you leave it and go to the sauna room. it was ITNENSE! I couldn't sit down...imagine that...and then they started adding water to the coals and it got REALLY hot. I have never been singed in my life, but I could not breathe, and I could feel my skin like burning!! It was the most pianful thing I have experienced ina long while! my neighbro was like, come down, come down (it was like al oft)...and then you must know, that a tradition in banyas is to get beaten with birch branches...and this nice old babushka volunteered to do it for us. and she beat us. haha, it felt really good actually. a very good massage! and then she had us like turn around, put our arms up...haha...it was great.

next step, we go out to wash. got our water, got our soap, and shampoo. right, I can do this! and then I've washed and my neighbor is just beginning...so I end up washing about 3 times...and she told me to wash my hair again! lol...and then this old babuyska comes up to me and asks me to scrub her down...hahaha...talk about community! and then I rinsed her...and then we had a little conversation about russia and where I'm from and what kind of story this will be for my friends!! man, it was so grreat!! and then the same lady who beat us gave us some coffee to scrub with: a natural exfoliation! I can do that! and I think it really worked! I felt so smooth and clean afterwards!...anyway, then my neighbro wanted me to scrub her back...that's a lot of body: 70 plus...wow.

side note: some of the members of our group were so appled that we had gone to a banya (and apparently it was a ghetto one..I sbelaive it! It costs 10 rubles...that's less than 5o cents. ) beucase they couldn't handle being that familiar withe veryone. I really felt connected. it was great. so many ladies were so appreciative and tickled that we were at a bnya! I wanted to expeirence Russia and man did it1 they were so cute! " you need to come to a bnya at lest once a onth" "where are you from..molodetz! (that means good for you!)"

continuing: so, then you go to these showers to rinse it all off (after dumptin your individual bucket about 3 times over yourself...)...and then you gather up all your stuff and go get dressed. haha, yeah russia!! I love it! and it was great too becuase we still don't have hot water, so I"ve been doing little bucket cleansings anyway...a bnay was great! it took about an hour, and I'm not sure I'm ready to go bck anytime son...but it was definitely worth it and I am so glad i went!