Shortly after going to the river, I developed this cough. Nothing concerning, as it seems to be due to allergies or the change in climate. My mamá here, however, was slightly concerned, so she suggested one of her tricks.
To get rid of a cough or at least help make it better, I should take a cup of water with sugar and salt. She said it's great for cleansing my blood and will help. So, she grabbed some water from the fridge, sprinkled in some salt, and spooned a good amount of cane sugar into the mug. With all the sugar, it tasted pretty good … and it actually seemed to help. It could be the placebo effect though - who knows?
One will notice here that the mothers will never grab anything from the fridge or freezer while they are cooking at the stove. It isn't good to bring the hands from hot to cold and could make one sick, they say. So, they'll request someone else that's around grab something they need from the fridge so they never put their hot hands into the cold.
I walked through the community today and ran into a friend's host mom along the way. I talked to her for a while and told her how my brother had gotten dengue after spending time in Nicaragua. She told me what she does and recommends to everyone is to crush some fresh garlic with carrots and juice them; drink the juice from those two ingredients and she says it works wonders to relieve the symptoms of dengue (fever, body pain) and help one get better. Of course, I recommended to my brother he try it - we'll see how it works.
My family's dog, Paloma, has three little puppies - some of the cutest you'll see. When you turn them around to see their bellies, though, you'll see how they have a nest of fleas running all over them. The professor I've worked with in the hospitals told me a trick she uses on her own dogs - sour orange juice. She said it’s a natural remedy that works wonders on her own dogs to get rid of ticks and fleas; she also adds 2-3 drops of vinegar to their water, and she said it makes their blood acidic enough the bugs don't like it. My parents agreed that'd do the trick, so we'll be doing just that and bathing them soon.
Sunburn? We all know of the wonders of aloe vera gel … but suprisingly, my host family did not! After returning from a long afternoon at the beach, with nothing but the sun and two clouds in the sky, I came back red and pulsating heat. I asked my mom if I could cut a piece off of the aloe vera ("ah-low-eh vehr-ah") plant, but she didn’t understand. I pointed to the one I was talking about, and immediately she realized what I wanted to do - but had never used it for that before. She couldn't believe I knew of such a remedy (she's very interested in that), and she happily carved the piece of it, exposing the perfectly smooth fleshy inside of the plant, oozing its biochemical and medicinal properties. Here, they call it "sabila," and it appears to be a different variety of aloe vera, and it is not as fragrant (nice) as aloe vera.
The next time I make a trip to the store to buy something to fix whatever ailment or situation might present, I'll remember some of the remedies I'm learning here and try implementing those, too.
To get rid of a cough or at least help make it better, I should take a cup of water with sugar and salt. She said it's great for cleansing my blood and will help. So, she grabbed some water from the fridge, sprinkled in some salt, and spooned a good amount of cane sugar into the mug. With all the sugar, it tasted pretty good … and it actually seemed to help. It could be the placebo effect though - who knows?
One will notice here that the mothers will never grab anything from the fridge or freezer while they are cooking at the stove. It isn't good to bring the hands from hot to cold and could make one sick, they say. So, they'll request someone else that's around grab something they need from the fridge so they never put their hot hands into the cold.
I walked through the community today and ran into a friend's host mom along the way. I talked to her for a while and told her how my brother had gotten dengue after spending time in Nicaragua. She told me what she does and recommends to everyone is to crush some fresh garlic with carrots and juice them; drink the juice from those two ingredients and she says it works wonders to relieve the symptoms of dengue (fever, body pain) and help one get better. Of course, I recommended to my brother he try it - we'll see how it works.
My family's dog, Paloma, has three little puppies - some of the cutest you'll see. When you turn them around to see their bellies, though, you'll see how they have a nest of fleas running all over them. The professor I've worked with in the hospitals told me a trick she uses on her own dogs - sour orange juice. She said it’s a natural remedy that works wonders on her own dogs to get rid of ticks and fleas; she also adds 2-3 drops of vinegar to their water, and she said it makes their blood acidic enough the bugs don't like it. My parents agreed that'd do the trick, so we'll be doing just that and bathing them soon.
Sunburn? We all know of the wonders of aloe vera gel … but suprisingly, my host family did not! After returning from a long afternoon at the beach, with nothing but the sun and two clouds in the sky, I came back red and pulsating heat. I asked my mom if I could cut a piece off of the aloe vera ("ah-low-eh vehr-ah") plant, but she didn’t understand. I pointed to the one I was talking about, and immediately she realized what I wanted to do - but had never used it for that before. She couldn't believe I knew of such a remedy (she's very interested in that), and she happily carved the piece of it, exposing the perfectly smooth fleshy inside of the plant, oozing its biochemical and medicinal properties. Here, they call it "sabila," and it appears to be a different variety of aloe vera, and it is not as fragrant (nice) as aloe vera.
The next time I make a trip to the store to buy something to fix whatever ailment or situation might present, I'll remember some of the remedies I'm learning here and try implementing those, too.