homemade cough syrup and injured kittens

I had, if not grand, at least moderately good plans for the day--go to church, help Natalia and the kids from the Orthodox Sunday School plant trees, go to the youth group at Andrey's church this evening and hopefully connect with an English teacher who helps out there.

Unfortunately, I woke up with a bad cough, a tight chest, and not much voice, which is likely the result of overworking myself this past semester, giving myself no downtime before coming to Ukraine, and then going more or less full-tilt once I got here. However, being in Peace Corps taught me a bit about slowing down and taking care of myself so I wouldn't get more sick, so I told Nadia I was staying home this morning, gargled, took one of the Fishermen's Friend coughdrops I found a bag of in my computer bag (not sure why), and went back to bed until noon.

The afternoon was spent watching Battlestar Galactica, although the tone is getting darker and I'm going to have to start slowing down on watching it or mixing it with Doctor Who. I'm really enjoying BSG, but I'm finding that there are limits to how much gloom I can take in a sitting. But at the same time, I want to know what happens next! (Although I know a lot of the major spoilers, unfortunately...the series finale was this past spring, after I started playing the board game, and in order to know a bit more about the game, I did some reading on Wikipedia. All the same, it's interesting to watch it all play out.)

But I digress...Nadia dosed me with homemade cough syrup, which was surprisingly effective. It's a combination of butter, honey, wine, and baking soda, and although it's a vile concoction, by the time I finished the small bowl of it she told me to drink, I could breathe easier and wasn't coughing as much. I've also been drinking compote and water all afternoon, so I rather feel like I'm swimming by this point.

The other major occurence of the day was that Alosha (5) decided to take one of the kittens, dunk it in water (or possibly hold it under?), and then throw it on the ground next to the dog, who decided to investigate it. We were all sure that the kitten was dead, and all the little kids were mad at Alosha, who was crying when he realized what he'd done (except for Snizhanna, who blamed the dog), but apparently the kitten has come through, thanks to prayers from Ihor and Vlada, although it may be blind now. We're not sure.

My camp counselor skills come in handy here. I've taught a bunch of the kids how to play Duck Duck Goose and the hand-clapping circle game "Down by the Banks of the Hanky-Panky" and how to do thumb wars. It's amazing how much they enjoy it.