Banya thoughts

There’s something about roasting in a banya that’s as hot as a roasting oven, except for the fact that there’s nothing dry about it, that gives you a clear mind to have completely erratic thoughts. I guess me being a dim sum would be a more apt metaphor. Anyway, maybe your brain gets addled by the heat or something that just puts the most random thoughts. Anyway, I’m just starting teaching classes in a few days so here a few of my banya thoughts, the horror, the horror.

First of all, I’m still having trouble coming up with an idea why Kazakhstanis are able to fully insulate their banyas so that the hot air stays inside it, but they haven’t quite gotten to insulating their houses effectively so that the hot air doesn’t leak out. But, it definitely is better up North. But, for all their blustering about cold weather, Kazakhstanis can be babies about the cold whether.

Food here has been pretty good, but I say that about the North of Kazakhstan. As my friend Nikita pointed out, it’s a lot of variations of meat and starches, which is fine right now, as long as I don’t balloon up, which my host families have definitely been trying to do. Either way, there has been less oil up North, which has been great. Surprisingly, I’ve been getting a decent amount of fruit, though that’s bound to clear away. I have had the pleasure to have a persimmon for the first time, which are delicious, and pomegranates coming out of my ears, which I’ll happily take.

Technology was also on my mind. I work at a school that has seven interactive boards, mostly because this is an initiative by the president here, Nazarbayev. Now these boards are useful, and once I figure out how to use them, they will probably be a valuable tool. At the same time, I think the English textbooks they use could definitely upgraded, especially under the prices of the interactive board. This kind of reminds me of my classes at Carthage on development and the discussions there of how to develop a country. Do you build up the technology or do things that are more basic, such as the textbooks? There are examples for both sides, whether it’s just cell phones versus slight changes in basic services. I’m still undecided on which is better, though I lean towards the replacement of horrible textbooks, any new resources are probably good in whatever capacity, especially since there are so many young people making education an important part of government.

I probably had some more thoughts rolling through my head, some more profound than others and some down-right stupid (come on, it’s me) but it kind of got too hot. So if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the banya.