random notes

Thought I would share a few things you might find interesting... in Russia there are Aptekas (pharmacies) on every corner. Literally, they are everywhere! On our block alone there are 8! To put it in perspective there are 2 banks, 2 small grocery stores (though there are 10 or so little kiosks that sell drinks and chips and small stuff), and 2 travel agencies. That's just on our block alone! I was talking to a Russian friend of ours the other day and she even brought up the fact that it was so weird that there are so many aptekas in this country- I thought it was just unusual to me! The nice thing about having so many around is that if you can't find the med you're looking for at one, you can just walk a few yards down the street and try the next one. You don't need a Rx (for almost all meds). You can just walk in and tell them what you need and pay for it. That simple. But, you're not always guaranteed that your meds will be good quality- hence the reason we always ask if they're the best quality available and where they were made. Even Russians will tell you not to buy Russian made meds! We can get several familiar name brands- usually considerably cheaper than they are in the US- but often they are not as easy to come by. Any liquid meds we get for the boys come in glass bottles and you have to add the water and mix them yourself... not to mention figure out all the dosing yourself if you weren't advised to take them by a doc. Something else interesting... Gavin's meds for his nebulizer often come in little glass vials that we have to score w/ a razor and then break open- and we have to buy saline to add to it that comes in a large glass bottle- the same one they use when they give you an IV- they just hang it upside down on a stand. Oh... and to get the saline out of the bottle you have to buy syringes... It is always weird to me that anyone can just walk into an apteka and walk out with needles... hmm.