Maquinga

Photo courtesy of Lower Kuskokwim School District

maqi- steam
maqiunga- steaming
maqillrunga-steamed
maqivik- steam-house

This week I went to church a few times at the Russian Orthodox church here in Russian Mission. I felt a little out of place the first time, because I forgot to bring a head covering and decided against packing a skirt.  But, as I was maqiunga in the maqivik a few nights ago, the former Matushka informed that only the married women wear head coverings and not to worry about wearing jeans. No biggie.

Steaming was really nice. But for me it is not a good substitute for a shower. It is a good supplement, but that's about it. Here, it is used to relax, socialize, warm up and get clean. It fulfilled 3 of the 4 uses for me.

I usually can only stand heat for a short period of time. I pull myself out of hot-tubs after 10 minutes, panting and red-faced. I can hardly stand wet saunas. I lower myself into the bath tub with much trepidation. And a maqivik is basically a wet sauna souped up. The Matushka I went with was being kind to me. I was glad there wasn't a bunch of women, which is custom, because I would be much more likely to try to impress them. The steam-house probably got up to 200 degrees at the hottest, when we were sitting up straight. I, however, kept flopping over onto my stomach to avoid the steam, (handling it like a real pro).

Before my eye-opening experience, I didn't exactly know how this whole maqiunga thing worked. In a small outer room, you get get undressed, get a pan of cool water, and prepare your towels. Then you crawl through a little door into the steam-room, which is probably 4 feet at its highest point. As the Matushka opened the door and went in, leaving me to follow, I was slightly terrified.

As we climbed in, I thought "Hey, this isn't too bad!" We sat on our towels, put shampoo in our hair, then wrapped our hair in cloth so it didn't burn (burn? I was starting to get nervous again). Then came the steam. Damn. That's all I have to say.

I was keeping up with the Matushka, making sure to take deep, even breaths through my mouth, but when she gave me permission to take a break, I burst through that little door like no one's business. It was totally embarassing. This cycle- crawl into the steam room, act tough for about 5 minutes while franically splashing water all over myself to not burn and then panicking and tumbling back out- went on for about an hour and a half.

I needed to experience it. I hear about the steam-houses and always wonder exactly the ritual of it all. I think I was really lucky to have been invited. I love the idea of a bunch of women hanging out naked and just talking. I was told that it can get packed in there, and you can get stuck far from the door. I have heard that ladies will lay on the floor while elders give them massages. I guess my experience was just a baby step to the real full blown maqiviq experience.