What the Amoebas Have Taught Me

Well, the tests are done, the results are in. Folks, it seems I have been attacked by a mob of amoebas... Though microscopic in size, these little hooligans have done quite a number to my stomach, my energy level, and thus my ability to feel in any way useful to this community. Its been a struggle not to get totally disheartened by this mess while I continue to grow further and further out of the loop with each passing day. Let me tell you, I've spent a lot of time watching subtitled movies in Spanish...

On a brighter note, I've learned some really interesting things while on bed rest (or bathroom rest, whichever you prefer) that I might otherwise never have known about. For example, my host mother, Mercedes, and Lindsey's host mother, Marisela, have given me a number of natural remedies to common ailments. For example:

1) If you have an achy stomach

-Down two tablespoons of olive oil. The oil smooths out the irritated stomach lining. I can think of almost nothing more repulsive, but apparently its a cure all for sour stomach. Who knew!

2) If you have a stomach bug that wont quit (note: discounting amoebas of course, they apparently play on an ENTIRELY different level)

-Mince a fresh clove of garlic and mix with a small amount lemon juice. If you are a weakling, dilute with water. Apparently, bugs that get in the stomach have an intense aversion to garlic and often purge themselves from the body when in contact with it. Good to know for us poor in-college or post-college kids who don't want to drop 10 bucks on a bottle of TUMS!

3) If you have red eye from allergies

-Make a pot of chamomile tea and let it sit out until it is at least room temperature. Apparently chamomile is safe on the eyes and alleviates red eye. Use the tea as eye drops in the affected eye, and the redness will go ka-put!

So there you have it, some homemade remedies for all you naturalists out there in cyberspace!

Oh, and as promised, I have something to add to Ramon's advice of the Day:

Ramon found it imperative that we understand the time differences between Mexicans and Americans. Our first two weeks here, we found ourselves the victims of gringo time. Ramon explains this phenomenon to us with the following tale...

An American and a Mexican decide to have a business meeting the following day at 10am. They say, ok, we will meet at this bench at 10am. The next day comes around, and the American checks his watch ten times before he is supposed to be there, you know, so he doesn't run a minute late! The American gets to the designated bench promptly at 9:50 am. Right on time, he thought to himself. Ten o'clock strikes and the American starts to feel a little restless. "I wonder where he is?" the American wonders to himself. After five minutes past 10am, the American begins wringing his hands, wondering if something terrible happened to his friend. The time is 10:05 am

Meanwhile, the Mexican is enjoying a pleasant, leisurely breakfast with his family. Ten o'clock rolls around, and he muses, "Well, its a bit of a walk to the bench, so I suppose its time for me to leave," He strolls tranquilly down the road, looking forward to a meeting with his friend.

The Mexican approaches the bench at 10:45am and the American is all shaken up and begins to interrogate his friend. "Why are you so late? I thought we were supposed to meet at 10 o'clock!" The Mexican gives him a strange look and glances at his watch. He responds to his American friend, "What do you mean I'm late, its 10:45. It IS still ten!"

This piece of advice may sound wildly overgeneralized, but I must admit that we see the cultural difference on a daily basis. Our weekly conversations start promptly at five every Tues and Thurs. However, this start time is what we call the "gringo start time". It is so amusing because even though the class always "starts" at 5, the only people present are white, English-speaking Northamericans trying to learn Spanish like us. Thanks to Ramon, we have learned better, and now we arrive promptly at 5:15 for every class, and as sure as the sun sets, there are our Mexican friends, ready to engage in conversation to learn English and help us gringos with our Spanish!

Needless to say, living in a new culture is a total trip, and we are constantly being humbled here. But thanks to Ramon, we have a heads up on these things :) More advice from Ramon to come, I'm sure!