Valentine's Day in September

Today in Colombia is Valentine's Day or, in Spanish, Día del Amor y la Amistad. I highly prefer the latter title as it's literally translated into "Day of Love AND Friendship."  It's a much more inclusive name and not-so-depressing for the singletons.

Coincidentally, yesterday I administered a spelling test from an american-published resource that had a fill-in-the blank question that looked like this:

Keesha ___________ valentines in the month of ______________  .

This sentenced was followed by another fill-in-the blank question that looked like this:

His birthday is in __________________  .

This week's words followed the short 'e' pattern and included the words sent, February, and September.  Quick 3rd-grade quiz for you:  Using the words sent, February, and September, fill in the blanks in the sentences above not using a word more than once.  As an love-sick or love-lacking American would do, you would probably fill in the blanks as such:

Keesah     sent        valentines in the months of      February        .

His birthday is in     September      .

Did you pass?

Upon checking my students' tests, I was quickly appalled by how many students were mixing up the months of February and September.  I circled their wrong answers with green pen and marked '-1' with some satisfaction...

...that is until the fourth test when I realized how culturally IGNORANT I was being.  My realization hit me like a ton of bricks: VALENTINE'S DAY IS IN SEPTEMBER IN COLOMBIA!  DUH!  I had to return to the three tests I had graded prior and humbly write 'OK' in place of my '-1' like this:

What a coincidence that the spelling words February and September fell in the same test.  Happy Día del Amor y la Amistad from Colombia!

Eating Aloe

My senior year of college I developed a pretty severe case of acute bronchitis (I know that's an oxymoron) that resulted in bruised ribs, being benched from the Ultimate Frisbee team for several weeks, and a sleepless roommate who had to listen to my coughing night after night (you're the best Heather!).  Though I long since healed from that specific happenstance of bronchitis, I have had occasional sightings of less-severe cases of bronchitis.  Every time I develop a cough, it resembles the phlegmy cough that characterizes bronchitis.

Unfortunately, this past week I have developed the phlegmy cough once again.  While many chalk up my cough to my being exposed to the germs of generally grossness of elementary school kids as a first year teacher, others blame my cough on the pollution of Bogota.  Each explanation seems perfectly reasonable to me.  FIrst year teachers DISEASE.  And while Bogota, among offering many cultural and entertainment attraction, also offers you very polluted air.

Questionable though the cause of my cough, the remedy does not seem to puzzle anyone here.  My co-workers suggested at least three natural remedies, and yesterday, I was summoned enough courage to try one:

The Aloe Leaf

I bought the aloe leaf at the local supermarket.  No one batted an eye at my 1.5 ft. long "sabina" leaf except for the one American visitor on a business trip happening to buy hair ties.  From behind me in line she asked "Now, what are you going to do with that?"  To which I replied with feigned confidence "Eat it."  She wished me good luck and I was on my way.

Having no idea how to eat this leaf, I went of course immediately to the trusty internet.  Up popped this page in my search results.  Thank-you Ruth Marlene Friesen from Saskatchewan, Canada for your terrific photographic instructions.  I always knew I liked Canadians (that's for you, Lowes).

Now, through photos of my own, I would like to share with you my aloe-eating experience.

Yesterday, I first cut the aloe leaf into a nice portion (as on the right).  Then, slit the aloe sideways to open the center where I found the ooey-gooey goodness (grossness).

I then proceeded to scrape a spoonful of the aloe and shove it in my mouth like a champ.  This was no small endeavor, as the consistency reminded me of my old dog Cody's slobber right after taking a huge drink from his water bowl.

Today I tried something different (after researching the healing powers of avocado) and made a honey, aloe, avocado, milk smoothie.  This consistency of the smoothie made the aloe go down much, much easier.

Did it work?  The cough is still here, but less (placebo effect?).  The phlegm is still here (borderline TMI?).  But I still have faith that after a few more smoothies, the aloe and avocado will kick in.  I'll keep you posted.

Meanwhile, I had no idea of the plethora of natural remedies out there for absolutely everything.  Watch out, I might come back as an herbal healer ;)