Overkill

We had a good visit with Alex today. When Vera brought him in she said that he has a cough and runny nose (which he has had for the past few days) so we couldn't take him outside or get him too hot because then he would sweat and that would give him a chill as they walked through the halls. She said that if the cough and sniffles didn't clear up the doctor said they would have to give him a shot, which shocked us. Vera told us that going to the doctor here was a pretty regular occurrence and it seems that they use the doctor almost like we would use a pharmacy--just go in for some routine thing.

After the visit we went to Interlingua for some more classes on Kazakh history and culture and I mentioned it to Adilya, our teacher. She said that they would probably give him antibiotics. I couldn't believe it. I told her that in the US a cough and sniffles would barely even be remarked upon, much less cause to go to the doctor and get a shot. Anyway, we are going with the Kazakh flow on this one. He didn't sound any better during the second visit so maybe a good round of penicillin will clear it up...ya think?

We feel like we are officially locals. When we were grabbing lunch at a cafe before the Interlingua classes Karina (one of Slava's daughters/our Korean friend) showed up at the cafe with two of her university classmates. What fun to run into familiar faces out and about! We had a great chicken pizza that also had some corn and peas on top. It was yummy but I had to quote what Sam would have said if he had been with us--"Eeeeeeeeeeew! That's yuck!"

Vera says she knows that the missing judge for Guardianship Court is on her way back to Taraz so we should have court tomorrow. Then we can schedule final court. Pray that final court will be on the 23rd, partly so we can have plenty of time to get back to Almaty to fly home (possibly a few days early) and partly since the "Spanish train" (by far the nicest and newest train in KZ) will be running that night. We can return to Almaty in style!