Remedies

Only in the jungles of Peru could you ask people about their protein intake and they would reply, “ardilla!” or “huevitos de tortuga!” which means “squirrel,” or “turtle eggs.”

I love it. I love being so far out in the selva boondocks that the people have their own dialect and traditional clothes that they wear just because they do, not because there are tourists around who want to take pictures. They eat interesting foods, like squirrel and turtle eggs, and a drink made by spitting out chewed up yuca and then letting it ferment. Mmmm.

They fish for piranha and still go to traditional healers when they get sick.

As the word has gotten out that a foreign nurse is in the village, I have been summoned on a handful of occasions to make house calls for wound care. Melina fell and sliced her shin on a piece of taut wire, Adrien was hiking when a nail pierced his shoe and consequently his foot as well, Felisa’s nephew skinned the back of his arm on a falling tree branch, Merlita split open the bottom of her foot on a piece of glass while traveling from Masisea to her community, an 8 hour walk away.

I find each of these people with their own unique remedies for treating their ailments. Some drink potions of brewed local plants, some tie herbal medleys about their necks, some carry a charm in their pockets. Do any of these creative methods work? Who am I to say? Believeing in something works wonders. If you believe it is working, sometimes it really is.