Monday, September 29, 2008

Russian Homeopathy

I came down with the flu over the weekend, which is really lame. I spent yesterday and today in bed, shivering under piles of blankets and aching. Pity me.

I have to say, I have really lucked out with my host mom. She has not tried to cure me by using any of the traditional Russian remedies: I have not been forced to eat entire heads of garlic, nor sleep next to a plate of sliced onion, nor drink suspicious teas. However, she just got back from an excursion to a monastery near the border with Estonia over the weekend, and she did force me to drink some holy water she brought back. Good thing I’m not a vampire.

And speaking of water, I’ve been drinking so much tea the past couple of days made with tap water that I’ve now got stomach woes to accompany my flu woes. I want my mama.

On the upside, it’s been sunny for a whole week.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hope you feel better, Alli.
I actually eat a clove of garlic a day to ward off illness. The onions are just for aesthetics.

डॉ . राजेंद्र धामणे said...

Hi Alli,
Take care.Why not you are using Homoeopathic medicine.
My Self Dr.Rajendra from India
rajendra.dhamane@gmail.com

Stefa said...

Все еще наладится... будет и на твоей улице праздник! Жизнь-то в полоску: не без праздников.

Anonymous said...

yo, thats cool, but so cool u is over there, get better soon!-- MAx

Anonymous said...

Alli, this is max, and yeah, so st. petersburg was so amazing. Im read throuh sum more of ur blog, and hope all is good.

Peter said...

Sorry to hear you've been under the weather, Alli. Hope you're feeling better when you read this.

So..was the water from the tea you drank fully boiled? Can you ever develop an immunity to the contaminants in the tap water? Do the Russians themselves drink it?

Alli said...

Thank you all for the well-wishes, I'm feeling much better now!

Pete, to answer your questions about the water:

Yes, the water was fully-boiled, and the water that I used later in the day was even more boiled than the water at the beginning, since I filled the teapot in the morning, brought it to a boil, and then kept it hot all day, bringing it back to a boil each time I wanted another cup of tea. Apparently some things just don't boil out.

You can definitely get more used to the water here, but I don't think you can develop immunities, at least not in adulthood. At least some of the problem is heavy metals from the ancient pipes much of the city's water still travels through. Russians do drink the water, but only boiled, and in general they drink much less water than Americans.

Usually I drink one cup of coffee and 5-6 cups of tea a day, and I don't have any problems. Sunday, when I was most ill, I'd probably had twice that.

Lesson learned! :)