My first day of teaching was aborted because of a badly jammed finger which I thought might be broken. Really frustrating because I've been waiting so long to start. Yesterday I was out playing soccer on the really slippery muddy snow melt rain soaked field, ended up on my stomach, and as I was getting up, the ball was drilled toward my face, and reflexively putting my hand to block, caught force of the ball on my third finger, left hand.
Today, Monday was spent traveling to and from the region center (Sokal), the closest hospital with an x-ray machine (1 hour by bus). The hospital was not quite as clean smelling as I'm used to, and the lighting was again in economy mode. I found the x-ray offices, and then started trying to figure out the system of how to get my finger zapped. Other people came and went; the line did not function according to any logic that I knew. I finally got someone on my side, by giving my seat to an older lady, and she was able to make the nurses aware of my existence. Then the machine was a bit stuck, so I helped to slide the emitter into the correct place. The price for an x-ray is 3grn, about 60 cents. I gave them a 5 and didn't stick around for change. Then I had to find a doctor to read the x-ray, and tell me if the bone was fractured or not. This time I didn't even try to wait in line, I just went to the front, walked in the office, and it worked! Wanted to be sure that I understood correctly, so I got the PC doctor on the phone, handed the phone to the doctor looking at my x-ray, and everything was fine. Just ligament damage. The standard rate for a doctor's consultation is 50grn ($10). He wrote out for me to get ibuprofen crème (I already have) and something else which my PC doctor said was unnecessary. No prescriptions are needed for most drugs here. The medical system is a bit unorganized, but overall I spent less time in the hospital than I would have in the US, and spent a lot less money.
Yesterday I moved into my new apartment. Everything works great, all the furniture is new and off-gassing some weird smells. Food shopping is taking multiple trips, I keep forgetting all those things that you don't have to buy regularly, like matches, baking soda and kitchen scrubbers. The road is a bit louder than I thought, but I'll have to wait until my finger heals before I attempt to move the bed. The current bedroom is also really pink, and has a picture of the virgin marry, Jesus and some angels hanging right over the bed. I should really write down some recipes while I'm online, but I always forget. That's all for now, will report after I get through the first week of teaching.
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| From Winter #1 |
