Siberian Medicine

As mentioned earlier, I attended my first soccer match in Russia. Prior to the game, I stopped by my Russian mother's store in order to meet up with some friends. I felt fine, but Olga and her co-conspirator Natasha were convinced that I was coming down with a cold. They told me to sit down and wait, and then disappeared into a back room. I've found obedience to be an effective coping mechanism for life in Russia, so I sat down. After a few minutes marked by hushed whispers, they brought out a tea cup filled to the brim with some sort of hot drink and a lemon drenched in sugar. Natasha, who has a habit of calling me her "sun", ordered me to start drinking. I asked what they had prepared for me. They said "lekarstvo" (medicine). With two strong-willed Siberian mothers at hand, I had little choice but to coalesce. The medicine was delicious, interspersed with the bitter-sweet taste of lemon. I felt on top of the world, here amidst the flat expanse of taigai. Having drunk my fill, I posed the question again - "What am I drinking?" Smiling triumphantly, Olga and Natasha replied - "Cognac". Needless to say, the ensuing soccer match passed by awfully pleasantly.