KZBlog

A fun custom in Kazakhstan I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned here is “washing” a purchase or deal with alcohol. I say washing because that’s a literal translation of what it’s called in Russian, обмыть. In fact, it means to toast or drink to a purchase. Toasting a piece of good luck or a completed business deal or a major purchase like a house isn’t that strange in the West, but drinking to a new washing machine or a dress is.

And of course the ongoing hospitality holds that anyone in the home at the time should also drink.

I only bring this up because the other day visiting a friend of a friend, a member of the family came home with a new washing machine. Before I knew what happened, I had a shot of vodka in my hand.