The real work has begun. I have been assigned to teach 5th year medical students located at a hospital here in Ufa. Per previous discussions, I was expecting to teach 20-30 students but not twice that which showed up Monday morning for class. I was unsure of what to expect upon arrival, but had prepared a lecture and ultimately delivered it in a two hour time slot. The students were respectful, funny, interested, and eager for the information. My schedule for theory/lecture continues every day this week, with hospital based clinicals to follow.
It was dark and raining yesterday when I left for class, and the buses were over crowded. I finally caught a private mini-van (they compete with the public transit for 5 rubles more per route and go fast) and off we went. The windows on the mini-van were fogged solid, people were sitting and standing, Tar Tar music was blaring, and me feeling alittle uncertain of my stop. I edged to the door and yelled "pazhalsta" (that means please, and not the proper word to stop the van, but it worked). When I got off, I couldn't see the hospital. I had gotten off too early so now must walk the last half mile in my high-heeled boots.
After class, I meet up with John and we headed out to purchase light bulbs, 2 more towels, groceries, etc. We have heard of a center with a K-Mart/Walmart type store so we take the bus that drops us off "near" the center and take a dirt path down the center. Bingo! We find a store with almost everything in ONE stop!?! We spend almost an hour looking at everything. Once we finish we walk into a mall area that even has an ice rink. There, I notice a woman with a badge standing near a long line of shopping carts. She is guarding them. How cool, once you finish your shopping and want to ice skate, eat, or whatever...you just turn your shopping cart over to the woman with the badge, pay her and life is good.
Back at the apartment, John is hooked on Russian TV. We have about 6 channels, and he watches comedies, drama, military, history, and Russian CSI. He says he understands the "general idea" of most things and is "working on his Russian". In bed last night, I heard him laughing in the other room...The Hang Over, Part 1 was playing and it must have translated pretty well.
It was dark and raining yesterday when I left for class, and the buses were over crowded. I finally caught a private mini-van (they compete with the public transit for 5 rubles more per route and go fast) and off we went. The windows on the mini-van were fogged solid, people were sitting and standing, Tar Tar music was blaring, and me feeling alittle uncertain of my stop. I edged to the door and yelled "pazhalsta" (that means please, and not the proper word to stop the van, but it worked). When I got off, I couldn't see the hospital. I had gotten off too early so now must walk the last half mile in my high-heeled boots.
After class, I meet up with John and we headed out to purchase light bulbs, 2 more towels, groceries, etc. We have heard of a center with a K-Mart/Walmart type store so we take the bus that drops us off "near" the center and take a dirt path down the center. Bingo! We find a store with almost everything in ONE stop!?! We spend almost an hour looking at everything. Once we finish we walk into a mall area that even has an ice rink. There, I notice a woman with a badge standing near a long line of shopping carts. She is guarding them. How cool, once you finish your shopping and want to ice skate, eat, or whatever...you just turn your shopping cart over to the woman with the badge, pay her and life is good.
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