Fever in the morning, fever all through the night

Welcome to the land of home remedies.

I've been fortunate not to get seriously ill during my time here, but when the occasional virus does get me, I can always count on some interesting health advice from the Ecuadorians in my life.

Example:

Today, upon learning that I was running a temperature and feeling generally shoddy, my host grandmother appeared at my doorstep with a bowl of chicken soup. Muchas gracias, I kept repeating in a feverish haze. This is one of the remedies that does translate across cultures. I slurped it up and fell back into bed.

Then my host father called me. What's wrong, what do you have? he wanted to know. Do you have yellow phlegm in your throat? I will send you up some pills. The pills looked like they would be enough medication for a couple horses, plus maybe a pony, too. Okay, pills--I get that; in America, we takes lots of pills, too.

A few moments later, my host mother knocks on my door and informs me that, to clear the sinuses, one should eat a clove of garlic, followed by sucking on a lime to get rid of the garlic taste and to fortify one's weakened immune system with vitamin C. Sortof made sense when she explained it, but now we're beginning to get into foreign territory.

Once you get into the campo - the countryside - things really start getting interesting. Many of them have been around for so long that nobody can really explain the why behind the remedies. To a foreigner from the States, the recommended remedy may appear completely divorced from any kind of logic, so it comes off as simply bizarre. Examples: friends who have relayed stories of their host families counseling them to get rid of plants in their living quarters (They are sucking up all the air and making you sick!) and to never, never, never go outside just after bathing (Or your muscles will separate from your bones!). Perhaps the most well known home remedy to dispel bad energy/evil spirits/etc. is the shamanic ritual of rubbing a raw egg all over the body, followed by a shakedown with a certain type of herb dipped in whiskey or chicha, a homemade fermented drink.

Thus far, I've stuck mainly to remedies of the chicken soup and Gatorade variety, though I did venture to try sucking on a lemon. It did clear my head for a bit...who knows, maybe in a few days I'll be gobbling down garlic like nobody's business. Wish me luck and strong toothpaste.