Summary of the Week:
Monday: Kids were horrible. Still no working laundry machine, heat, or light in bathroom. Still a draft through windows. Met the new Philippino teachers.
Tuesday: Behavior chart & kids are better. Ran home at 5:00 for desk; waited until 7 pm for heater guy who never showed up. Had to choose between medicine and food; chose food.
Wednesday: NO WATER: I noticed during the night that the water wasn't working and the toilet wasn't flushing. I woke up to discover that the water still was not working. I called the principal (waking him up, I believe!) who said that he didn't have water either, we would just have to wash our hands at the school. Ha! I needed to shower, wash my face, put in my contacts, make my coffee, cook Sophia's sausages, brush my teeth & Sophia's teeth... I needed water! I waited until almost 7 to call Christie, who let us come over. She was not feeling well so she called in sick. But she was very nice and I took a shower and got coffee, etc. I realized that I was going to be late and decided I might as well be late--so we stopped at the pharmacist before going to school. The pharmacist only had one of the medicines. Then I realized that I forgot my soda and Sophia's lunch (just two slices of cheese) at Christie's, so we stopped at the small store next to the pharmacist, where I realized that I didn't have enough money for the bus ride to school and soda for us both. I chose soda over bus ride. We walked to school, late, in the freezing cold. I was not in a good mood. I don't think that anyone noticed that I was late (at least not anyone who cared or would tell on me).
Wednesday morning: fiasco with the nurse's assistant trying to get Sophia to take her medicine.
Wednesday afternoon: We left around 5:15, to be home in time for the heater guy, and ran into a parent on the way out, who offered us a ride home. Yay! She has a huge, American-like car (SUV). She was very friendly and told me how her husband works for the Kazakh Ministry of Defense and she used to work at the American Embassy. Her husband has commented on how American schools are strange--they have the kids sit on the floor and let the kids talk! I did my best to explain that while, yes, the sitting on the carpet is something we do and I think is good for learning, the talking is not American! These kids are talking too much!
Wednesday evening: We got home and the guy fixed the heat--hurrah! The principal called and said that he was told that we wouldn't have water tonight but we might have it tomorrow morning. Well, I'm smart enough to not put my trust in that word 'might' so I called Christie and asked if we could spend the night with her. She was feeling mostly better, and we went over around 8:30. Sophia thoroughly enjoyed spending the night at her teacher's house.
Thursday morning: We were running late for school; Christie decided to walk while Sophia and I took the bus. We met Valerie at the bus stop, who had been waiting for 10 minutes, but we made perfect timing as our bus arrived shortly after we got there. We arrived at school just as Christie did, which goes to show that walking can be slightly faster than the bus (if you don't get to the bus stop at the same time as the bus) but that with Sophia (who walks slow) the bus is probably just as fast if not a tad faster than walking.
Thursday day: I wan't as stressed as the previous days, and we walked home with Christie at 5:30. Sophia saw the same Kazakh girl on the playground whom she played with on Sunday, and they played for a while. Then we returned home. Our heat was working and so was our water! Yay!
Thursday evening: Then Sophia checked on the hamster. Our hamster escaped last night! Sophia was devastated. I searched, but couldn't find any trace. I even used my camera to take pictures (with a flash) of the tiny areas behind the cabinets, kitchen stove, etc.
Then we went to pick up our stuff from Christie's. On the way out, Sophia was grumpy and hid in the hallway from me. I was carrying a ton of stuff and as I left Christie reminded me to slam her door hard to close it right. I did so and suddenly I heard a loud scream. Sophia had had her hand in the doorway! (She had been hiding behind the door.) Quickly I opened the door, dropped all my stuff and brought her inside to Christie's kitchen, where I gave her bags of frozen food.
She cried and cried for quite some time, her fingers are purple and swell. Then we had to return to a home with not hamster. It was after 9 by the time we got home. Sophia's upset because it's her right hand she hurt and she loves to draw and write.
Well, so now we have heat and water but no hamster and a rather hurt hand. Oh, and a rash that I think is getting better but also has spread to her neck and part of her face.
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