One year in, and I’m ill for the first time (can't say sick, since in Azerbaijani, that's a swear word). Sure, my stomach’s been upset several times, one way or another, but this was the first fever I’ve had since coming to Azerbaijan. That’s a pretty good record, if I do say so myself. Though I’m not sure what the cause was, but it seems to have only been a 24-hour bug. My host parents were very sweet about checking in to make sure I was recovering, and even though they insisted on some home remedies, it was nothing like the banka cups other volunteers have encountered. Banka cups are small glass cups that are suctioned to someone’s back after a small fire is lit under them to get rid of the oxygen. Instead, they gave me a glass of sumac mixed into hot water. Ugh. They also had me tied two cloths around my stomach to keep it warm. That was about the extent of the “weird foreign cures.”
After I recovered, and went to school to meet with my school director, one teacher suggested that perhaps I had gotten ill because I had sweated and then drank water. Love it. Along those lines, since I was ill, my host mother has been vigilant about ensuring I’m not sitting anywhere cold, at least not without a cushion, so that my stomach doesn’t relapse. I may complain and argue and fight her every step of the way, but it’s nice to know she cares.
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