Day 17 - Taking Eastern Medicine



Hey, guys, I am back but in pain today. I had to drink an herbal tea (thuoc bac) three times a day that would help me with my kidney problem. You know, like in the movie isle of dogs with the kid who lost his kidney in a train crash. The drink takes all day to brew. It's from like a dozen different times of herbs that maybe look like cinnamon and some bark? I really don't know. The dosage of herbs is double the size of my head. It's then put in a pot so simmer for hours.

So, I drank the tea, once it was done brewing, which was super bitter. I was mad because the medicine man said he would sweeten it or it would be sweet after it brews. Of corse he lied or his idea of sweet is super biter. :( I spent the whole day being forced too drink three cups –breakfast, lunch, and dinner. So, one at breakfast one was awful so I didn't finish until lunch when my mom added sugar. For the lunch and dinner one, it taste better because my mom puts sugar again to cut the bitter. Well, that's really all I did. I did not go anywhere but school, breakfast, lunch and dinner. Well thats all I did today, bye. See you in two weeks or sometime like that, I don't know:)

Oh, forgot, I did spend a lot of time packing for Ha Noi. We are leaving tomorrow for Ha Noi. I'm pretty excited about that, except the pollution part. I have been to Ha Noi before and had to wear a mask all the time. I already doubled up on homework so I don't have to do any on the trip. Thank you, Ms. Hong. My mom has meetings there so I cannot sleep in, but she said we would look for a Halloween party on the 31st. Yay!

Update:
So, I failed at drinking all the brew and had to see the herbal doctor again. He was like, uh oh, you suck and you have to drink it all. But, then he said, why is it a problem if the brew is sweet? Turns out my mom did not brew it right so she has to brew it again. Now it taste like tar but not as bad. Even though I don't know what tar taste like.

My mom said I was being rude about not drinking the brew earlier so she was pretty pissed off. She had me look at the room full of herbs at the medicine man's house and said it came from the forest and had to be hand picked properly. Also, then the medicine man performed magic on the herbs and figured out what was wrong with me. So, the bag of herbs I got has like 20 different super special herbs in it. My mom said I should be more appreciative of all the effort by so many people to bring the herbs to me. It made me think a little.

Co Oanh helped my mom brew it right the second day. But when my mom came with the new brewed medicine at school, I still was not sure it would be sweet. So, I refused to drink it. My teacher, Ms, Hong, had to talk me into it. The class tried to get me to drink as well. I felt pressured so drank it. It did taste much better, especially since it's sweeter. I just don't like the bitter drink, it tastes so bad. Anyway, I hope it works. It better work :D










Comments

Que said…
have a good trip!
October 28, 2019 at 8:39 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day Six - A Normal Day in Ha Long Bay

Image
October 16, 2019 Ahoy seagulls, wait, no, you are land dwellers. Har har har. Well yee day was normal and I am going to get back to normal talking instead pirate language. For breakfast we went to some food stalls in an alley way near my school. I had banh bao (steamed bread stuffed with meats and eggs), vegetarian scrambled eggs, cha gio (pork sausage), xoi (sticky rice), and ice tea – all Vietnamese food I love. When my mom went to pay, it all cost only $1.50!! I was surprised that it did not cost a lot at all. Then I had to go to the place where I get tutored. Normally it is for 3 hours or more but now because I get my work done faster, I can leave after 2 hours. Today it rained so I couldn't go swimming. So, my mom went to get me a chess set and paper to draw instead. At the supply store I saw Halloween stuff. My mom was right, they do celebrate Halloween in Vietnam. I literally cried when I thought I may miss Halloween. Now I can celebrate in Viet Nam too. Then we we
Read more

Heading Back to Ha Long Bay

Image
I am going to Ha Long Bay with my mother. She is a professor that is researching in Vietnam. I will learn about the history of the Bay. I know that there are high levels of pollution there. I saw it last time I went to Ha Long. I will try to learn more about the environment and try to help with clean up. My mother will be working with a Shaman who is a spiritual healer. I sometimes think I have special powers too. For instance, I can sometimes see spirits an channel the dead. Ha Long Bay is a magical place with many spiritual wonders. I can hardly wait to go again. I will go swimming every day if I finish my homework from Ms. Chan. I wish this was a vacation with no homework but it sadly is :( At least I can blog to you dudes and dudettes of the fun I am having. This was a picture of me when I was in Ha Long Bay at 8 years old.
Read more

Ha Noi

Image
August 2018 Tous: We are in Ha Noi. It's hard to breath here. I learned it's really polluted and it is true. But, Ha Noi is still fun. The best part has been taking cooking classes. I got to use a knife to cut stuff and make pho. My daddy said it was the best bowl of pho he ever had because we made it ourselves.  Emmi Ha noy is fun I like the museeim becoz we got to run alot. I also like the xick lo rides becoz we can sit donw and a man pusshis us. I relly like the pony rid. I woz the best rider.
Read more