Saturday, November 15, 2008

Russian/American Medicine

I was still lying in bed under a pile of pillows a few mornings ago. Zhenya came in and asked if I wanted some honey mixed with jam (to help me feel better).

"Sure," I said. I dragged myself into the kitchen when it was ready. She put a bowl of something in front of me and even through my clogged nostrils I could smell something strong.

"What's in this?" I asked.

"What do you think?" she replied.

"Garlic?"

"Yep. And honey, jam, and lemon."

"Interesting." I decided to eat it since when I'm sick I'm pretty much ready to try anything. Maybe I could even convince myself to start liking liver.


After breakfast...

Zhenya: "When you're ill, you must wash all dishes with soap."
Me: "What?"
Zhenya: (same thing)
Me: "Ummm...I always wash dishes with soap. You're supposed to do that BEFORE you get sick, as a preventative, not AFTER."
Zhenya: "I usually just use soap if it's really greasy."
Me: "Oh."

I'm on the road to recovery...

7 comments:

  1. Hi Liz. Thanks for posting this great anecdote! (I'm a friend of Mary's and I've been following your blog for a few months now.)

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  2. from the usual anonymous

    giant, much needed, LOL

    you'll have to hear about how sarahsmith's dish-washing differs from mine!

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  3. Hi Sacha! I visit your blog(s) too sometimes. Let me know if you ever decide to visit St. Petersburg!

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  4. Hey Liz! I am applying to go in March/April for 2 weeks for an English Camp and then I've applying also to go starting in August for a year with Student Venture. (I have my interview within the next month for this) I will definitely let you know!

    Praying for you!

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  5. Very interesting! It is definitely more hygenic where I am now. You can drink the water from the tap too.(-:

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  6. But the funny thing is that Zhenya is VERY clean and her mom is a former pediatrician. Russians and Americans are just picky about different areas of hygiene.

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  7. OK....so now we know why you're sick - Zhenya is your roommate? Oh, dear. She's certainly compassionate, at any rate!

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