Well that was unexpected!

So, you know how when you are sick, your mom has that special treatment for whatever ails you, whether is should cure you or not? Yea, I had not figured on getting the flu while I was here in Russia, but it happened. While it was horrible, I think it turned out to be ok, and I learned something from it. I have to make a digression quickly, however, to make my point.

When you live in a foreign country with a host family, there are things that are going to be different. It is to be expected. There are things that happen at the time, and you think, 'what the hell is this?' but later realize it wasn't bad, it was just different. (Yea, its my Rotary training coming through! ha ha) I had one of these such experiences in the first few days of my stay here. I sat down for dinner with my host mother, and she was bustling around the tiny kitchen making me food. At one point, she pulled out some fish (it looked kind of like salmon) and asked me if I wanted it to eat. I agreed, because I love fish. She then pulled it out of the package and put it on a plate for me. If you are not following thus far, it was uncooked fish!! I had assumed that she was going to cook it for me. What I later found out was that in Russia, one of their typical ways to eat fish is by marinating it for hours/days, and then just eating it, without cooking it. At the time, all I could think was "Dude, I didn't sign up for raw fish!" Since then, I eat it like I have always eaten it.

Now back to my point. When I told my host father that I needed medicine for the flu in my broken Russian (and with the assistance of my dictionary), he called his wife, and she went to the pharmacy before coming home. What I got for a medicine was the real surprise. I was expecting theraflu (yes, they have that here), or something similar. No, what did I get? I got activated charcoal tablets. Yea, its the same stuff they use in fish tank filtering systems. The pills look pretty sinister too. They are jet black, no shine what-so-ever, and might as well be something out of a movie used as a poison. I was so sick, however, that I didnt care. I was told to take 5, and I obeyed, and then went back to sleep. I figured, whats the worst that could happen, I already felt like death? To my pleasant surprise, however, when I woke up, my upset stomach was no longer upset, and I was feeling better. Again, at the time, I couldnt believe that activated charcoal was the cure for the flu, but now that I have done it, I will have no issue doing it again should the need arise.