Teaching While Sick
The past few days have been great. I am really learning to love both this city and my students. I am going to be completely honest here. Upon joining ILP, I had been told countless times that teaching the kids would be the best and most fulfilling part of my trip. I did not believe them. I would smile, give a laugh and blow it off. After my first day of teaching, I had convinced myself that I would loathe my students and that I would dread teaching every day. It was difficult to find joy in my class when it was so stressful. I don’t know when it happened, but I suddenly realized how much I love my students. When some of my naughty kids dropped my class, I noticed that the rest of the students were interested in listening to what I had to say. I think I am actually getting through to them, and that is a great feeling. I leave class with a smile on my face, and not because the class has finally ended. I am smiling because it was a good day. I know that not every day will be a good one, and that’s okay. I am going to cry my eyes out when these four months are over and I am forced to say goodbye. I love these kids, and it has only been a few weeks.
Moving on, I have been feeling a little ill for a couple of days, but nothing too severe. There are lots of people getting sick right now, so I have stepped up my anti-germ game. I’ve been washing my hands and using hand sanitizer as much as possible. I suppose there’s only so much you can do when you work with kids. I woke up this morning and knew the bug had gotten me. This time I don’t mean mosquitos. My throat was raw and my sinuses hurt. It got progressively worse throughout the day. I can’t stop blowing my nose, and everything hurts. Russians don’t seem to believe in tissue boxes, so I have hoarded a roll of toilet paper and have blown (did you see what I did there?) through a good chunk of it.
Arbat Street
Yesterday evening (despite being sickly) was amazing. Alexa and I went to Arbat Street and it was so cool! The street reminds me of Royal Street in New Orleans a little bit. Performers, artists and musicians line the street. There are souvenir shops (that are horribly overpriced), local cafes, and even some good old American comfort foods, like Dunkin’ Donuts, Cinnabon, and Starbucks.
We knew that we were in the right place because right as we entered the street, a violinist wearing concert attire was playing music. He was fantastic. As Alexa and I walked the street, I was dazzled by the culture and Russian pride. These people are proud to be Russian and to celebrate their history.
The street performers and artists were what made Arbat Street interesting. I was blown away by all of the talent. There was a dance crew that was pretty cool, but nothing spectacular, and they were also pushy about tipping them. There were several artists, ranging from oil painting and drawing, to spray paint art. It really was interesting to see. There were also some great musicians. I already mentioned the violinist, but the excitement doesn’t end there.
My favorite performer though, was the hippy man, Sergey Sadov. His hair was gray and mostly covered by a tattered leather cowboy hat. He wore a knit poncho under a shiny, brown leather jacket. Ill-fitting denim pants covered his legs. On his once-white moccasins was a tambourine. His instrument case had a marijuana plant sewn on, so I can only imagine how he came to play this instrument. Sitting atop a small guitar amp he played an instrument of his own design. He explained to me that there were about 10 instruments combined into one. I don’t remember what they were, but I know it contained elements of the guitar, the balalaika (a Russian guitar), bells, and some other instruments. It produced the most interesting sound. I ended up buying a CD from him because I wanted to hear more of his music. He spoke a little English, so he signed my CD. He was hopeless in trying to spell my name, but that’s okay. It’s the thought that counts. The CD was a worthwhile purchase, by the way. I really enjoy it.
Once the sun began to set, we decided that was our queue to go home. The whole adventure took only a couple of hours but was so worth it. I want to go back in the future, so I can see more of it.
Sick at Home, Not Homesick
My sickness stayed away while I was out and about, but as soon as I got home, I felt worse than ever. I think I started to develop a fever last night.
I woke up this morning feeling slightly better. My throat hurts a little, but my main complaint is my nose. It won’t stop running. It’s raw from blowing it on scratchy toilet paper. I was useless in teaching little kids today. I did not have the energy to play and get excited about speaking. I was having a difficult time speaking, so I wasn’t able to cue the kids to talk. I felt horrible about how rotten I was as a teacher, but there was nothing I could do about it. It didn’t help that I had kids sad and crying in my class. All of their little friends were just outside of the window getting to have a field day competition of sorts. All of the ILP kids weren’t allowed to go out and play. Yes, my kids were super distracted and depressed. I wanted so badly to have fun and make ILP worth their time, but I couldn’t do it.
I came home after work and took a nap for a few hours. I think the nanny came home and could tell that I was not feeling well. She stuck a thermometer in my armpit, put a cough drop in my mouth and brought me tea. She then proceeded to bring me throat sprays and nose sprays. Most days I think the nanny dislikes me a little bit, but today she worked her way through a language barrier and helped me out. I am very grateful for that.
I am hoping that I will feel better by tomorrow. We are going to the Kremlin tomorrow to see the ballet. I love ballet, and have been dying to see the Russian ballet for a long time now. As soon as I decided to volunteer in Russia, my first thought was that I HAD to see the Russian Ballet. We are going to see Giselle, a tragic love story. I am so excited to see it. I don’t care if I am sick, I’m going. I would prefer if I wasn’t blowing my nose the whole time, but I’m willing to do it, so I can see the ballet.
Everyone is getting sick right now, but I have a sneaking suspicion of how I got sick so fast. My sweet little host sister was sick for about a week. She stayed home from school and everything. She’s still kind of sick. Yesterday I busted her licking the salt grinder, right where the salt comes out. GERMS, MAN! I then watched the nanny pour some cough syrup in a spoon, feed it to Liza, then rinse it off and put it back in the drawer. You cannot tell me that that spoon is clean! I’m kind of germaphobic (hence all of my hand sanitizer), so seeing things like that freaks me out. I really don’t think people around here stress the fact that sickness is spread through germs, and if you don’t wash your hands, clean things thoroughly, and watch what you do, then you’re going to get sick.
Alright, that’s my day for you! I love you all and will tell you all about the ballet!
All my love,
Madison
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