Bana!

I’m sure many of you are interested in how exactly things work over here. I’ve had the toilet questions a few times; usually food and preparation are discussed. The one thing that I do enjoy here, possibly more than those other to things combined, is Bana.
What is Bana you might ask? Well, in Kyrgyz it is called “Moncho.” Still don’t know? It is a steam bath that was imported here by the Russians long ago and I have to admit that it is freaking awesome.

To answer your first question: no, I do not get to shower/bathe every day. You could probably substitute the word “day” in the previous sentence with the word “week” and it would still be accurate. Though my house does have running water (kind of), it is certainly not hot. Thus, we don’t really have a place where a bath or shower could really take place, except for the Bana.

The room itself is very basic, maybe 3 meters by 3 meters. It has benches built into the walls on two sides that present themselves as you enter from the antechamber that keeps you from having to undress outside. One corner is consumed by what, from the inside, appears to be a long, plaster box attached to the wall with a huge metal box sitting on top of it. There is a small light in the exact opposite corner that allows you to bana in the light.

From the outside, a fire can be created and stoked inside the plaster box. The heat seeps into the room through the metal box that also happens to be filled with water. A small layer of rocks sits next to the tin so that the heat to be better kept in the room. Once inside the bana, one can poor water on the rocks to create extra steam to really make the room sizzle. While there, you can use the boiling water (mixed with cold from outside) to clean yourself from head to toe. This is an opportunity not to be taken for granted.

During the summer, the bana disappears for what is called a “douche.” (Really, I’m not making that up.) We best refer to this as a sun shower, where water is heated by being in the sun all day and then the bath is taken late in the afternoon. I don’t know if I wrote about these previously, but I took one probably every other day during my pre-service training. Believe me, the water gets plenty hot in Kyrgyzstan brutal continental summers.

I don’t know if it is bana’s fault that I love it so much, but I don’t care. Maybe it is the fact that I get to just relax and take some “me” time. Maybe it is the fact that being clean is actually a state I prefer to be in compared to its alternative. Either way, I can tell you all that I love bana and you can’t take that away from me.