Took a week and a few days for my sunburn to heal. I think that was definitely the worst sunburn EVER.

I went to the health center, got my medical forms for going abroad filled out. This was a very thorough checkup… Blood testing, urinalysis, please take off all your clothes and put on this smock and the RN gave me a breast exam. And noted the mole on my side, and measured it, and said I should have a dermatologist look at it. However, I talked to my mom, and she has the same mole, and so does my grandmother. So the plan is, if my grandma’s mole turns out to be cancerous, then my mother and I will have ours removed. Funny thing is, my little sister does not a similar mole, so it doesn’t breed true… I wonder if my children will get the same mole? …if they do, theirs will be under the same removal clause, I suppose. But what if mine becomes cancerous, and my mom’s and grandmother’s never do?

It is, of course, more likely that I will get skin cancer. The RN put a recommendation that I always wear SPF 30+ sunscreen on my medical forms. Always. Baz Luhrmann wasn’t kidding about it either.

Once SIT completely approves me medically, I suppose a phase three will start. I don’t know exactly what it will involve, but hopefully not more forms that I need to send in asap. Oh, but I will have to get some more shots, before I go. Typhoid, Rabies, and Tick Encephalitis. I was reading the health recommendations for Russia, and it says don’t drink the water. You’ll get Traveler’s Diarrhea. Sounds horrid, but what they don’t make clear is, is it a recurring thing? They say it lasts for several days, but what I want to know is, will it come back later? Or will you acquire the immunity to the bacteria in the water, and then be fine. Because I think it would be easier to be sick for a while at the beginning and then be able to drink water, than to spend the entire time trying to find alternatives to water to drink. Also, would the bacteria be different in different parts of the country? (I think the answer to this one is probably yes.) Would I get sick going to Ternei, then get sick in St. Petersburg, and then get sick again in Irkutsk? I feel like in Ternei I’ll probably be drinking the water anyway. And hoping not to get geardia, or anything long lasting.

Living in Russia, it becomes increasingly apparent, will be different from living in Finland. No one ever told me to watch out for the water in Finland. It’s a nice clean country. But I can deal. I mean, maybe Far Eastern bacteria have something in common with Alaskan bacteria. Or not. But at least, from living in Alaska, I already have vaccinations for Hepatitas A and B.

It sounds like I’m worrying a lot about this disease thing, but not really. I’m much more interested in what I’ll be doing, while I’m over there. Especially in Ternei. So I think I’ll email Luba again.