Waking up in a communist state is torture in itself. I get up at four to stand in line for bread and milk. No shower, there is no hot water and no heating. A cold shower sounds nice if you do it as a determination exercise in the middle of summer, not if it is your only option in a cold fridge apartment.
Getting to work in an overcrowded bus is also not what I imagine as a peachy start to the day. You can feel the sweat reaking through the thick winter clothes of the passangers rubbing against you. Having less buses saves on gas. It does not matter if there are double as many people in the bus as there should be. Somehow nobody fell off the bus in the last six months.
I get to my milling job and have a warm tea. First warm thing of the day. I almost could not get my hand off the cold rail on the bus. The warm tea does feel nice to the skin. Maybe we can keep a steady supply of it today. My mother collected the linden flowers last year. Officially it is not even tea, not the traditional eastern chai. Just some flowers boiled in water, to give it a bit of taste and have something warm inside.
Too bad my teeth are not liking the warmth of it. My left side especially is in such a state that it pains from heat and cold. They won't last for long.