First Day and Russian Toilets

Today was my first day of my summer practicals. I am doing them here at the provincial hospital in Olsztyn, at the Nephrology Department. I wasn't really sure what to expect of my summer practicals, not sure how much hands-on experience I would be able to gain and so forth, but I must say I have been happily surprised. After the nurse explained to me how it's done, I got to inject a heparin solution (an anti-coagulant given to bed-ridden elderly patients) into a patient all on my own. The first person I did it on was very skinny, so it was a bit tricky and I thought I might hurt them unnecessarily, but it went well. The other 3 patients I injected had some more fat on them, so it was quite easy. The nurses seem to trust me quite well after just the first day, and don't seem to be to annoyed at having someone steadily on their tail. That's good, wouldn't want to be on the nurses' bad side now would I? Tomorrow, however, me and a doctor from the department are going to observe (from the gallery) an operation carried out on one of the patients. This will actually be the first operation that I witness, and I am very much excited about that.
Now to the bewildering piece of bathroom equipment that is the Russian Toilet. They have one at the Nephrology Department, most likely a remnant from former times. One would think all water-closets should look the same, but like with everything else, the Russians have an alternative idea. Instead of one's excrement's landing in the water where the stench is somewhat subdued, they land on what can best be described as a little ridged holder. There they lie, not very far from their origin, and I can only imagine the difficulty that must haunt all Russians with acute diarrhea. The splashing effect would be devastating. To all my worried readers, I can confirm that my visit to this exotic toilet did indeed go smoothly, but I am perhaps a bit shaken.

Notice the little "pool" at the back, this is where everything lands...