sent to me by my daughter Michelle
My cold is lingering, runny nose and cough, and now Luba has it. She sounds terrible. Some of Luba's friends have it too. I feel responsible. I am better but did not respond 100% to all those home remedies. My incessant coughing has kept her up at nights. Now Luba is canning the home remedies for doctors, nurses, and tons of meds from the pharmacy. I don't blame her. She even got a lung X-ray a few days ago, which looked pretty good to me, but a white fuzzy area in her lower lungs apparently indicates some congestion. I wouldn't know. All I know is she has my cold.
It's the time of year, after a long winter, when colds happen. And, yes, everyone is sick of winter, from Ukraine to Ohio. But still I blame myself. I got this cold, it won't go away, and everyone I know is getting it. I'm sure it started with our cold rooms in the Chernigov hotel, got a good boost in the unheated train stations in Lugansk and in Kiev, and another boost when we stood in a cold rain for 20 minutes while waiting to be let onto the train. So I shouldn,'t blame myself.
Meanwhile, the nurse comes daily for Luba, and I think she's medicated her really well to the point of sleeping, which is good for Luba. It takes a lot to keep her down. We were all coughing, wheezing and sneezing at her birthday party on Sunday afternoon, 14 February, which lasted 6 hours. Lovely friends. An incredible amount of food and lots of toasts. I was about to collapse from exhaustion but I kept going until the last guest left, ducking as many vodka toasts as I could because I didn't want to overdo it with the cough medicine I'm taking. I did okay on that front (which is a good skill I am learning), but I think we did a pretty good job of spreading germs around. Now Luba's friend Ira has the cold.
I'm afraid this cold will last into March. I am hoping it goes away before I head for the States to visit my family and friends in Ohio and Florida. I don't want to spead this cold to America. What if the Governor of Ohio gets it? What if he travels to Washington and spreads the cold there?
What if President Obama gets it? I'll really feel bad. He has enough problems. I know it won't be enough to just leave the scene in disgust, like Evan Bayh, or to say, "from Ukraine with love." I'll have to come up with some better Ukraine remedies. Maybe the new Ukraine president will have some better ideas. That's something for which we can all fervently hope.
P.S. On the election front: Yanukovich, the political power from Donestk, the Donbass, won by a few votes and I think Julia is challenging thie election in courts. It sounds like the Bush/Gore election. Most people think whatever the outcome it will be the same. I get my news in Russian so some of you may know more than I do! Some pundits have written that the most important thing is how the Ukrainian people "monitor, influence and control" the president, and hold him or her accountable. "The country needs a more responsible citizenry to make the political elite more responsible" (Kiev Post, December 2010). Some food for thought.
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