1. I am better! Yaay! Except still coughing and a bit croaky at times.
2. This is not the promised Sandwich Nazi post. To do that one, I have to find the cord to plug my phone into my computer to remove pictures. OR I could email them to myself. I will. Someday.
3. I was visiting an elderly Iraqi woman, who was very concerned that I’m still croaky. She had some advice for me. “Heat some milk up at night and put a large spoonful of butter in it and drink it.”
4. Um, no?
5. I pointed out that milk was supposed to increase the phlegm, but she was adamant. She said I could alternately heat lemon and honey and drink that. I said I was drinking lots of hot tea, but she was not impressed and said milk was better for my throat, especially with butter melted into it. I just wanted to share this because I’m hoping someone out there will try this for me and tell me if it’s as nasty as it sounds. Let us know!
It’s interesting to me to look at folk wisdom from different cultures. In Mauritania, they believed that sitting under cool air (i.e. fans or AC) would make you cold which would cause you to catch cold! This drove me crazy as it was usually over 100 degrees there, and I needed all the cooling I could get. Although Iraqis like cool breezes and AC, they seem to blame the weather for every single illness. No matter your sickness, no matter if it’s unusually cold or unusually hot or surprisingly pleasant and sunny–well, the weather has been different, and that’s why you’re sick. When I had the flu, it was because the weather was too hot. When I was still croaking, it was because the weather had turned cool and rainy. When my friend’s son had trouble breathing and his lips turned blue, yes that was asthma, but it was caused by the weather, which was its normal grey and temperate self that day.
6. We have had some torrential rain here in Portland this week. First we had an unusually dry (for us!) winter and spring, including an unheard of two-week-long spate of 80 degree days! Then we got all our normal rain in 2 weeks. We were supposed to have a picnic/barbecue with an Iraqi family yesterday, but I came up with a cheap rainy-day plan–we would go to the nickel arcade, let the kids play games to their hearts’ contents, and then go see a movie. Of course the actual day was sunny, but I can’t control the weather, people.
I’ve mentioned the Avalon Theatre before, but I’m sure you’ve long forgotten. Movies (second-run) are now $3, and all arcade games are a nickel. We watched the new Oz, in spite of their 10 year old choosing the R-rated movie from the “now showing” posters as his choice for all of us, including his 6 year old sister. It wasn’t bad and I think everyone enjoyed it. Do people actually like all that CGI? I don’t, but I thought James Franco was inspired in his role as Oz the Magnificent. That cheesy grin he would get when he was getting his bluff called!
Planet Nomad 
3 comments
May 27, 2013 at 7:54 am
mrs. bacon
The milk butter thing is not a joke. It does taste better if you put some cocoa in it. It will coat your throat and you are guarunteed to sleep good.
We use it for cold camping nights out. It will keep you warm in your bedroll.
May 27, 2013 at 2:58 pm
repitrol treatment
Well, inhalers aren’t just for asthma but tons of breathing problems and respiratory infections. It’d either
help or it wouldn’t. Nothing more, nothing less. Not that I’m condoning the use
of a prescription medication that wasn’t prescribed to you.
June 8, 2013 at 8:41 am
Loretta
I have always believed that croakiness was entirely due to phlegm clogging the vocal chords. I only recently found out that it is usually caused by inflammation and not phlegm. So maybe the milk and the butter would work for that. But I’m not rushing to try it. Mike tried to get me to drink a vinegar/honey concoction for years whenever I had a cold. I finally tried it a few months ago, and I have to admit–it did knock the cold pretty flat. But don’t tell him. He might make me drink it again.