I am definitely sick. I did not sleep well and had a hard time getting up. But we had promised Tyson a birthday FaceTime call. It was 10 pm at the end of his birthday (7am Friday morning for us) and we wanted the scoop on how his big day went. His friends were good to him, bringing him treats and gifts. My mom spoiled him with Texas Roadhouse for dinner. But the best news was that he had his Board of Review and he is now officially an Eagle Scout!!! It was quite the successful 18th birthday!
I have been feeling so bad that I've been such a horrible host for Sarah. We have done absolutely nothing except grocery shop - lame! But boy did I feel the blessing of having her here today. I went back to bed after our call with Tyson. And she took over for me. She made sure everyone had breakfast and then worked with Jacob to clean the flat. We don't have the luxury of a weekly cleaning lady this year, and so she just took over and got it all done, getting Jacob to do his part. Then on top of that she made me lunch. Wow! I love having another female around! Now I really need to get her out there and show her the town! Next week promises to be warmer - in the 30s, so we will finally be able to go out and play. But for today, I am thankful that she was here inside and so helpful. She has worked to get to know Jacob and he is becoming more comfortable with her. They tease and joke with each other which is just so fun to watch!
Jacob was sad that I had enough rest to do some home school today. We have been seeing the Vilnius wolf everywhere, but neither of us could remember the story, so we looked it up:
One day Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas went for a hunt ten miles away from his then capital Trakai.
Hunting was successful – the Duke came upon a huge beast, taurus, and killed it.
As it was too late to go back to Trakai, Grand Duke Gediminas stopped at Šventaragis valley and took a night’s sleep there. Then, during his sleep, he had a dream that on the mountain a large iron wolf was standing and it was howling so loud as if it were hundreds of wolves howling inside him.
Gediminas woke up from his sleep and said to his priest Lizdeika: „I have dreamt a strange dream“ and described everything that had happened in his dream. Lizdeika was the chief pagan priest. He said: „Grand Duke, iron wolf means that the great capital will be located here and a howling of the wolf means that the sound of this capital will be heard all over the world“.
Next day, Grand Duke Gediminas, immediately sent people and founded one castle in Šventaragis valley another – on a high mountain nearby. And for those castles he gave a name of Vilnius.
Birute kindly scheduled me a doctor's appointment for this afternoon at an American Clinic on the outskirts of town and arranged for Viktoras, the driver who speaks English, to drive me there. Everyone at the doctor's office was still Lithuanian, so I don't really understand the whole "American" part of it, but there were plenty of people there who spoke English and the forms they gave me to fill out were in English, so it worked. It was a basic doctor's office, nothing fancy, but in a newer building. I saw a female doctor who was very kind and helpful.
She began by taking my temperature and told me I was 38 degrees - which meant nothing to me as I don't know how to convert that to fahrenheit. So after a few moments of silence I finally had to ask her if that meant I had a fever. I think she was trying not to giggle at that, but just said I had a slight one. I looked it up later - it was about 100 degrees. But one look in my right ear confirmed I do have a pretty good ear infection. I get them once in a while, but it's been many years. I can't help but think the travel, dehydration and jet leg were all contributors. She prescribed me an antibiotic and another pill that helps with the stuffy sinuses and told me I could fill them at any Pharmacy. I was nervous what that might entail, but thanked her and left. I stopped at the reception desk on my way out and asked how much I owed. She looked surprised and said, "No cost." I double checked. No charge. I hope I don't get a huge bill in the mail later, but I think I just saw the benefit of socialized medicine. So I kindly thank the citizens of Lithuania who all pay 45% income tax for the "free" visit to the doctor today.
Viktoras knew where a pharmacy was near our flat, so that is where he dropped me off. Thankfully, the pharmacist knew enough English for us to figure things out. She took my two prescriptions, opened 2 drawers behind the counter and pulled out the boxes I needed, gave me the instructions and rang up my total - 18 Euros, which is less than $20. Cool for me. And how great to have no drug store hassle! In and out in less than 5 minutes! Unheard of at home.
I knew I didn't want to have to go out again, so I stopped at the little Rimi market and bought a few groceries for the weekend - including a bunch of juice since I've been drinking so much lately for my cough and I'm getting very tired of water. (Although I have also very much been enjoying herbal tea that has felt so good on my throat.) I snapped this quick shot of our building along the way.
We are on the 5th floor with the dormer windows. The 2 on the left are on our side of the flat; the one on the right is on Sarah's side. Although, in the end we share the whole flat.
This is one of 9 staircases we climb to our flat, plus a few extra out front. Normally it's not a big deal, but today with my groceries and cold I had to stop several times to stop my head from spinning. I guess the advice from the doctor to rest is a good idea.
In the spirit of trying to rest, I didn't make dinner tonight. Adam got home a little early, and after a FaceTime call, he took Sarah and Jacob out for dinner at a nearby steakhouse.
I've dozed throughout the day, but I'm having a hard time sleeping tonight. I like to sleep on my right side, which is the side with the infection and my ear hurts enough for me to not be able to sleep on it right now, therefore I can't really get comfortable. So it's now 1 in the morning and I've only had a few cat naps. But it has allowed me one observation. Lithuanians, like most Europeans, are very quiet and respectful. They often think us Americans are quite loud. But it's Friday night and the bars are open - and the people outside are very loud when they get alcohol in them. It's like there is a different group of people out there from earlier today. Time to turn on my white noise app and try to get some more sleep.
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