From Russia With Love

On Tuesday after Bible study, Becca (my roommate), was complaining that her stomach hurt.  I didn't think too much of it because I thought it was maybe bad food or something like that.  Wednesday morning, Becca told us she wasn't going to school because she had been throwing up and felt sick.  So Julie and I left for school and Julie told me that she heard Becca calling her dad, who's a doctor, at about 2 am asking about her appendix and stuff like that.  We went about our day and heard that afternoon that the doctors had gone to our apartment to check her out because you have to have a doctor's note to miss school.  So anyway, another teacher came to tell us that she was at the hospital with Masha (one of the Russian preschool teachers who speaks English and hangs out with us) waiting for test results.  

When Julie and I got home...well Becca still wasn't back.  And it was kinda late.  So we texted her and she called us back saying she was getting ready to go into surgery and we didn't get much more information than that.  So after Julie and I sat in the living room for a minute not exactly sure what to do next, we started frenziedly calling to find out where she was so we could go there.  We finally found out where she was and Rick, Amy, and I met Masha outside of the metro station and went to the hospital at 10:00 pm.  We were told 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 5 minutes, several times...so at 1:15 am she finally got out of surgery.  There was also a lot of miscommunication about where she was and if we could go and if we could see her and all that. And the only reason we even found her was because we were getting impatient and walking around looking in all the rooms (ok maybe that was mostly me) and saw her through the glass. They let us walk up with her and she was awake and coherent.  I think they were being nice to us because we're foreign because I'm pretty sure you're not allowed up in the halls and rooms at 1:30 am.  At least not in Russian hospitals.  I kind of have this theory that if you're not supposed to be doing something, someone will let you know.  So you might as well try it.  And no one told us to leave so...

Well the metro stops running at 1:00 am so we had to walk home (it was about 30 degrees).  The city was totally dead and it was too far for me to go to my apartment (and it was 2 am and I wouldn't have walked alone) so I spent the night at Amy's and called Julie in the morning to bring me clothes at school.

And this couldn't have happened on a better day.

Because today was Teacher's Day!  Yeah, so in America that means pretty much nothing.  But in Russia it means party.  The students all leave by 1:00 pm (right after lunch) and then there is a "program" at 4 until...whenever really.  And the program is sort of optional--like optional but strongly suggested you attend.  But it's fun so it's good to go.  But this is the program:  groups do a funny skit or song (it's all pretty funny stuff) or video and dress up in costumes for the skit and give out awards and there are tons of food and drinks.  Like a huge cake, fruit, caviar--which, yes, I tried and it was gross--vodka, champagne, you get the idea.  And every time someone is going to perform or speak they say "drink!  drink!"  So people have a good time.  Oh and they decorate and there is a live jazzy band and people dance and mingle.

Sooo this was perfect because I got to leave school after tea time and go home and clean up and grab stuff to take to Becca and then head back to the main campus for the program and leave after the skits and stuff to go to the hospital.  So really, it worked out great.    

And Becca is doing ok.  She's a little sore from the surgery but she's feeling ok and she has this really nice roommate named Yulia who speaks some English and helps translate what the nurses and doctors say when Masha isn't there.