Orbita Hotel Minsk

... pews for the czar, the czarina and the metrpolitan included. The church of the Annunciation which we had visited last time was closed for renovation. From there we travelled into Red Square. Again it seemed that the years had not changd the view, apart from the fact that instead of posters of Breshnev and Lenin there were now advertising signs for Samsung and McDonalds.When we entered the Gum Department store we were amazed. In 1980 this was a collection of market ...

... around the edges of the fortress, which are largely unrestored. The museum is interesting but all in Russian. You really have to see it to believe it but we both consider this to be one of the most impressive single sights on our trip. Brest is a very pleasant, small town. It feels quite sterile but it is very clean and orderly. Wide streets and lots of trees convey a pleasant atmosphere, despite almost all the buildings in the town being Soviet era ...

... to working a little LESS now that other nurses are here! Here are some Belarusian phrases I have learned: Hello: Pivyet How are you? Kak dela? My name is Andrea: Me nya zavut Andrea Bye!: Paka Thank You! Spasiba Yes: Da No: Nyet Don't worry- we have interpreters with us everyday, but I am trying to learn! Hope all is well at home! I miss you! Paka! Andrea

... a dining room, a pool, a sauna, a shower room, and a room with massage tables and a tanning bed. When we initially arrived, we all took a toast of vodka (very common) and chatted outside while the food was prepared. Then, then the men changed into their bathing suits, followed by the women. AFTER changing into our BATHING SUITS we all met in the dining room to EAT LUNCH. Okay, so image meeting a ...

... on a 1 year old girl named Valeria. She had a transitional AV canal with pulmonary hypertension. She was repaired within 3hrs (Dr. Novick is VERY quick), extubated 3.5 hours post op, and was on dopamine @ 5, milrinone @ 0.7, and fentanyl at 1. I ended up working 24hrs straight, but it was fine because we only had the one pt and I spent my time getting oriented with Maria. There is a huge nursing shortage right ...

... than in German, and I set off around 10, determined to do my best to follow them. Overcoming my fear of city buses (if you don't know where you're going, how do you know when to get off?? someone please explain this to me) I catch number 33 and eventually find a metro station. During Soviet times, when a city reached 1 million people, they got a metro system. Ergo, Minsk has one while Tallinn, Riga, and Vilnius do not. I never figure out how to pay for the ...

... to the country. The President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko has been in power since 1994 and is an essential dictator, maintaining the country's Soveit ways - including collectivisation and the KGB. In March 2006, he was elected to another 5-year term with an unbelievable (literally) 83% of the vote. Those who protested, and there were thousands, were arrested. Some Highlights of Recent Belarusian History: April 26, 1986-the fourth reactor of the Chernobyl ...

... not be a lot of fun, but it has its perks. Unlike in the previous few countries, everything seems to actually work here (even if it may take longer and is pretty behind technologically at times). The streets are spic-and-span and there are regular cleaning crews out beautifying the city across the day. That's a huge departure from the frequent piles of rubbish found throughout Romania, Ukraine, Moldova and the like. And thanks to the omnipresent police force and ...

... though we established in about 30 seconds that I didn't speak Russian and he didn't speak English. But he still spent about 5 minutes trying to talk to me in line for drinks! Mind you, when we were all outside enjoying our drinks he did become useful as he took a photo of the six of us. We all had a drink and then the place was closing down, so we headed to our next stop. It was kind of strange as we walked through the city... there was ************e out, and it was a ...

... im. F. Chopina) and I was greeted by an X-ray bag check despite being on an "internal" EU flight. When it was over I ran through to the transfer area to be greeted by a clock bearing a time past the "boarding time" on my ticket. A remarkably unflustered LOT rep told me that it was the 'boarding time' not the departure time though, so I settled down for a wait. Ich fand es auch lustig dass ich neben einer Deutscher ...