A Lemon a Day . . .

Since we’ve been here, we’ve gotten lots of medical advice from a friend who is an American nurse. Her advice has been fairly traditional and sound. She is happy to help us whenever we need it, but we get advice from her only when we call her and ask for it.

In addition to her trusted counsel, we have also received LOTS and LOTS of unsolicited medical advice from local friends and acquaintances (and scads of taxi drivers). Much of this advice has been...umm, shall we say...questionable? Just to be fair, we must admit that there are a fair amount of old wives tales being perpetuated in our home land as well. Who among us hasn't been warned, "Don't swim for 30 minutes after you eat or you'll get a cramp," or “Reading in dim light will ruin your eyes”?

Here are some of our favorite gems from the "Crazy Things Our Friends Believe About Health" category:

~A recent blister on Lee Anna’s foot was caused by the cold ceramic floor in our flat. Because we let her run around barefoot, somehow the cold floor pushed something up from the bottom of her foot and out the side. Nevermind that the blister was right at the spot where her almost-too-small sandal rubbed her skin all day.

~Sawyer drools a lot because we kiss him on the mouth, and his baby mouth can’t handle our grown-up germs. We should rub lemons and a spice called Tahina in his mouth to make him quit. (He can have brownies and ice cream, but please don' t kiss him on the mouth!)

~Any time we’re sick, it’s because we have an A/C in our house. Basically, the A/C is the root of all evil.

~And any time we're sick, we should drink warm liquids with lemon to get better. Lemon is the cure-all for any type of cold.

~Little babies should not be held upright until they are at least 4 months old because their backs are too weak. (He can eat whatever he wants as long as he does it lying down!)

~After you have a baby, you will recover quicker if you eat lots of soup.