Monday, January 19, 2009
The Spirit is willing.....
...but the flesh is weak. My voice started turning raspy on Thursday, and by Friday COB, was decidedly gravelly. Saturday I was hoarse, and by Sunday afternoon, my voice was completely gone.
A part of me wants to believe, since I have never felt "sick" (just really worn out and crappy) that this is some sort of allergic something or other, but, without being too gross, there are some indications that this is an infection. So Sunday night I haul myself off to the local Superstore to try and find some cough syrup and cough drops. Thankfully, I had Dina with me, because while Crest, Nivea and Tropicana all have made the Pacific crossing painlessly, Robitussin and Halls have not.
So I meet the Chinese herbalist. Dressed like a pharmacist and working behind the pharmacy counter, she is a woman perhaps 10 yesrs my senior, and radiates calm and confidence. Through the interpreter, she asks me what is wrong. I tell her that I have no voice, but I am not really coughing much and I have no pain in my throat. She think a moment, and hands me a slip of paper and points toward the cash register. I am charged the equivalent of $2.25, and I receive a yellow box with 400 small black pills blister packed inside. I am supposed to take 6 of the pills, 3 times a day.
Figuring that there are 1.4 Billion Chinese who have been using remedies like this for generations, I make a leap of faith and try it. I am here to teach, and I cannot teach without a voice.
I think the stuff just might work. I definitely sound better today, but whether that's the herbs or the tea with lemon and honey and chicken soup (**my** grandmother's cure) I've also been downing? Can't be sure. The congestion in my chest is better, and if I don't yet sound like myself, I do have a voice that can be hear d by other humans.
A part of me wants to believe, since I have never felt "sick" (just really worn out and crappy) that this is some sort of allergic something or other, but, without being too gross, there are some indications that this is an infection. So Sunday night I haul myself off to the local Superstore to try and find some cough syrup and cough drops. Thankfully, I had Dina with me, because while Crest, Nivea and Tropicana all have made the Pacific crossing painlessly, Robitussin and Halls have not.
So I meet the Chinese herbalist. Dressed like a pharmacist and working behind the pharmacy counter, she is a woman perhaps 10 yesrs my senior, and radiates calm and confidence. Through the interpreter, she asks me what is wrong. I tell her that I have no voice, but I am not really coughing much and I have no pain in my throat. She think a moment, and hands me a slip of paper and points toward the cash register. I am charged the equivalent of $2.25, and I receive a yellow box with 400 small black pills blister packed inside. I am supposed to take 6 of the pills, 3 times a day.
Figuring that there are 1.4 Billion Chinese who have been using remedies like this for generations, I make a leap of faith and try it. I am here to teach, and I cannot teach without a voice.
I think the stuff just might work. I definitely sound better today, but whether that's the herbs or the tea with lemon and honey and chicken soup (**my** grandmother's cure) I've also been downing? Can't be sure. The congestion in my chest is better, and if I don't yet sound like myself, I do have a voice that can be hear d by other humans.
# posted by jpk 
