The Belarusian government finally decided to turn on our heating system! They fired up the furnaces on Sunday, which are located on the outskirts of town, but the heat didn’t reach my flat until late Monday night. The system uses pipes filled with hot water, so it took awhile for the warmth to make the journey into the center of town. No, I didn’t make a mistake in the first sentence . . . the government has 100% control of our heaters. In fact, if you get too hot the only option is to open your windows! The whole thing is a little hard to comprehend for this American-bred girl, but as the overnight lows have been approaching freezing, I could care less who controls my heat as long as they keep it cranked up. Right now it’s a balmy 21.8 C in my room and I’m no longer tethered to my space heaters, which were a major nuisance as if I plugged in any other appliance at the same time my power went out. “Balshoy spasiba” (big thanks) to the people stoking those fires!
