С легким паром!

So, what is "С легким паром!"? "May you have good steam!" I think that's a fair translation, anyway, if you follow the dynamic-equivalence theory. Anyone who speaks better Russian is welcome to chime in if they have a better theory, but for the rest of you, you'll just have to trust me on that one. Maybe literally something like "With you be good/light steam!" But that doesn't really work so well in English.

That's what it means, anyway, but what it means is that I (and this is J writing, in case the discussion on translation techniques didn't tip you off) got to go to a banya this weekend! And what is a banya, you ask? Boy, you're going to regret that question, since I have a whole culture notebook (soon to be a culture file on my computer, for those who will be checking up on that someday soon!) full of notes on my impressions and thoughts on the banya.

In summary, a banya is a Russian steam bath, and though its cultural relevance is fading, it used to be a critical part of Russian hygiene. Today, it seems to mostly serve as a relaxing getaway to relieve stress and hang out with buddies, but it still has a hold over most people and is seen as an important thing to do when you get the chance. So, when I heard that a group of men from our family group here were going to the banya last Saturday, I hurriedly asked if I could tag along and participate in this cultural phenomenon. It turned out I wasn't the only foreigner along for the ride, so the group was happy to have another person along to share the cost.

We first drove together about 20 km outside of Moscow, since all the banyas in the city are now more like health spas and cost a billion dollars an hour. Outside of town, though, they are still used by some people as a regular way to clean up, and are way cheaper as a result. Our group rented a whole wing of the banya for a couple of hours, which gave us our own indoor dining room/picnic room, a steam room, a small pool, and some showers.

The procedure is as follows: first, everyone strips down, rinses off in the showers, and heads into the steam room. This room is hot. Let me just say that again, in case you weren't paying attention. It is hot. Really hot. So hot that you're actually tempted not to breathe, lest your lungs be burned. The Russian guys all think this is OK, though, because they're "protected" by wearing little felt hats. I know, you're thinking, "Felt hats help to keep you from getting too hot?" but your head hurts too much to think logically. At least that's what my theory was.

Obviously, due to the scarcity of clothing, I didn't take along a camera, but these are some shots I found on the web. This one is of the interior of the steam room.

Anyway, I was determined not to be the first one to cave and insist that we leave the inferno first, so while the other guys swapped stories and jokes, I sat there trying not to breath too deeply. Actually, after a little while, it felt OK, and it definitely accomplishes the desired result: making you sweat. After about 10-15 minutes, one of the Russian guys had enough and suggested that we all go plunge into the pool. Now, I am told that in Siberia guys just run outside and rub snow on themselves, but it can't be any worse than jumping into the pool directly out of the hot room. They actually chill the water, so it's just above freezing. It feels amazing - totally wakes you up! I wanted to scream with pain and pleasure at the same time, which was weird. However, you get right out of the water, and then it's time to go back into the steam room. The whole procedure is repeated: 10 minutes in the steam (this time with someone throwing little cups of water over the rocks with scents in them, which both makes everything smell nice and makes it even hotter at the same time), then a plunge into the pool.

This is a picture of the water bucket with the little scoop for throwing water on top of the stones to make the steam

After a couple rounds of this, we took a break to get some food. It's amazing how exhausted and hungry you can be after shocking your system so dramatically. I was ravenous, and we fell to on the sandwiches, chips, kvas (about which more another day), and fruit that the group had brought along. Had a good chat, then repeated the whole routine a couple of more times. After two hours of this, I felt unbelievably clean and relaxed. Indeed, by the time I got home it was all I could do to stagger to the couch and lay there like a giant blob of uselessness (I think I earned the award for "all-time-worst-husband-of-a-pregnant-wife" as B even brought me supper).

Anyway, it was a great time, and I hope that next time some of my friends are heading out to soak in some steam, I'll get invited again. Other than that, though, we haven't been up to too much. Just our language study as usual, and B has been feeling better, so she's hoping to get back to class starting sometime this week.

Of course, since she didn't get to go to the banya, her main news this week was the arrival of a couple of packages from the US. It seems that some of our friends back home thought that we needed to have a balanced diet of Pringles and Froot Loops, so thanks to them! And not only did we get those packages, we also got another one from Joy with some baby presents, so thanks so much to everyone!! Really made our day!

Can you tell B is excited?

Even Steven got into the act with some of his Gerber's snacks. He really likes them, Marth.
This is just to prove to you that we have finally gotten Steven back outside. It's been a while, since B hasn't felt up to it and I only go outside when I'm going somewhere, but it was nice to go for a walk on Sunday. As you can see, most of the snow has melted, but it's been snowing again off and on this week, so soon we'll probably get enough to stick through the winter. On a positive note, we apparently finally have bundled Steven up enough, since we walked right past a few babushkas, and none of them fussed at us for leaving him exposed (and one even smiled at him!!)

OK, so on to the What Is It™ for the week. Last week we had a couple of winners: Rich was the first to post the correct movie and character, so he gets both points for the video question. The winner of the second question about the aged metal rack is Crystal, who for the second week in a row wins the point with the correct guess of child's climbing gym. One would think that trying to invent an even more dangerous style of jungle gym would not really be the way to go, but I have seen kids as young as 2 climbing on these things here, so they seem to actually be fairly popular.

On to this week's question, which again was taken on our jaunt to Kolomna. This one is a real mystery, so I'll be lenient in what we'll take as a correct answer. In fact, Andrey, who lived here all his life, didn't know what this was for a little bit. Basically, it's a large green structure built on the bluff overlooking the river, with a platform and a sloped side to it that leads to the ground. I've posted two pictures, one fairly close and another from a distance from the far side.

As always, first post with the correct answer in the comments gets the point. Happy guessing!