6/30. Irina outdoes herself with all the cuteness once again

This inability to enthusiastically apply myself has regretfully rubbed off on Max. We sat in the back of the room, wrote on each other’s notebooks, and laughed about things that weren’t that funny. I answered questions, we all took a quiz.  I kind of feel bad since he has to take a grammar test when he gets back to school and I just have to turn in my transcript from my course here. That fact makes me feel less guilty when I stare out the window.

I got home for some dinner and Irina had a surprise waiting for me. I didn’t know this until she explained it, but for the past month and a half she had been looking for a sour cream substitute that I would be able to eat. She said she’d looked in store after store every week and no one had anything, until she went in that Tuesday and found some! I happily mixed it into my beets and potatoes and couldn’t help feeling the love.

I’ve come to expect and look forward to Tuesday nights. Tuesday means the Banya with Irina and being really clean. It means something familiar and comfortable. The experience was much like the one I had last week with the exception of knowing the general order of when to shower or go in the sauna. I brought my own shampoo and conditioner this time so I left being completely clean and not feeling like I forgot anything.

Irina and I got back to the house and were in better than good spirits. We had been chatting about my family, her work, that this was her last week before she would have a nice 3 week vacation period, and just being happy. She noticed in the Banya that I had a few big cuts on my arms from scratching at my mosquito bites. When we got back to the house she called me into her room and put some medication on them for me. She treats me like her baby sometimes. Like the smallest tasks would be too taxing for me to do, so she takes them on herself without me asking or even knowing sometimes. We sat down and she showed me pictures of her office. She is an optometrist. Not a nurse like I’d thought. She treats eyes. I could tell how proud she was of her office and profession. It makes me happy when she’s happy.

After the pictures I told her how sleepy I was and that I was going to sleep. I spread out on my bed and put some music on. A few minutes later, there was a knock on my door. Irina popped her head in and passed me a little bowl of fresh cherries, smiled, and went back to the kitchen.

It warms my heart when I think of how lucky I’ve been here.