A Beautiful Ending

I have a motto for this final week in Astana; Zakanchivat krasivo which means literally End beautifully. That’s how I’d like to end my five months here—beautifully, not leaving on a bad note with everyone hating me or vice versa. Sure I’m a little unhappy with how the whole School of World Languages turned out and the way the Ministry of Education dealt with me, but I turned it all around into a rewarding 5 months. Now we’re just going to coast from Monday to Friday with no drama (knock on wood).

My last Saturday night was spent with my posse of Chris, WB and Irina at my place. Yes I finally had them over for dinner. We ate Kazakh style on the floor, which was better for my chairs are so uncomfortable. Esenzhol stayed for dinner too. He being a true Kazakh consulted me on how to properly set a table on the floor. He’s a shy boy and didn’t speak a whole lot but we got him to open his big mouth a bit. He was happy to be in the company of a variety of English speakers and meet WB who may be his future teacher. We sat, ate and drank late into the evening cherishing our last Saturday night meal together for awhile.

Yesterday was my big day at Gena Goose’s house. I finally got to meet his family of whom I’ve heard a lot about. He say’s he has “samiy strashny dom v Chubarakh” (the worst looking house in Chubary) but it’s not a bad looking two story house. Sure it doesn’t look as fabulous as the big brick castles surrounded by giant walls that the richer people have built but it’s a warm, happy home. He lives there with his chatty wife Alla, his daughters, son-in-law and cherished granddaughter Vika. His mother was there too and his sister and family popped over to have Sunday dinner with the Amerikanets. I got the tour of the house from top to bottom and then we went to the banya (sauna) before dinner. Haven’t been in a real sauna like this for a long time and it was great. It’s small but Gena had been heating it since morning so it was nice and hot when we went in. His nephew Dima joined us and all three of us squeezed into the sauna. Gena threw water mixed with eucalyptus oil which filled the little room with hot, aromatic steam. We sweated and sweated until we couldn’t take anymore then went outside and rubbed fresh powdery snow all over our bodies---Oy! Tak Khorosho!!! For round two I somehow managed to lay on my stomach in that tiny sauna, feet up toward the ceiling as Dima whacked me on the back with birch branches. He threw water this time mixed with beer on the rocks and the room filled with hot, yeasty smelling steam. I love this smell! Swirling the branches over my back, Dima fanned the hot air over my back and then with a big WHACK, smacked them on my back and started the best part of a Russian banya—getting beaten with birch branches. Between beatings he threw more steam on the stones which made the room hotter and almost unbearable. I endured for as long as I can then went to rub more snow on me and take a break. Ouch! so hot but Oh! so good. Getting beaten with birch branches by a handsome, naked guy was the closest I got to having sex here. Given I have 4 days left here, I’ll take it.

Gena threw more coal on the fire that heats the little sauna out in his yard and we did a few more rounds of birch branch beating and steaming. Then we went into the house for a big meal of Beshparmak, pickled mushrooms, eggplant and pepper salad, fresh tomatoes and cucumbers and of course vodka shots. It’s not everyday that Gena has an Amerikanets in his house so we had to celebrate with lots of toasts. My toast was simple and from the heart—I was met by my official counterparts coldly and unceremoniously. As fate would have it I met Gena and over the months he became an important part of my daily life here. I’m very happy that in this cold, inhospitable place and found warmth and hospitality in the guise of Gena. Thanks a lot Gena CLINK, CLINK! He has a lovely family and they seem very close. You can see in their eyes that they love one another and enjoy each others’ company. They laugh a lot which is a good sign. Gena’s mom told us about a TV program she saw about the dangers of little casinos that dot Astana, especially the slot machines. She got all worked up that we were all going about town gambling away our money in these Igroviye Zaly. We all reassured her that none of us were doing that, trying to calm her down but she went on and on. Finally someone made a toast and she got off the subject.

Yesterday was the last day of Maslennitsa so we ate blini with our tea. Maslennitsa is the Russian Orthodox version of Mardi Gras where people eat tons of blini, drink and carry on the week before Lent begins. Today begins Velikiy Post, the Big Fast and for forty days, the die hard believers eat very little. I tried this once when I lived in Russia—it lasted a few days. Basically you’re on something equivalent to a bread and water diet. You Catholics who complain about giving up one thing for Lent should be happy you’re not Russian Orthodox.