One of the most entertaining cultural differences between Costa Rica and the US are the old wives tales pertaining to health. I´m not sure why I find them so entertaining, but I really do. I love talking about them with other volunteers and hearing their stories about making cultural blunders by breaking one of the many unwritten rules on how to keep the flu at bay. Here are some of my favorite old wives tales and the stories that go along with them:
(1) Toad bones can kill:
One day my landlord comes over and knocks on my door. He is looking extremely concerned and asks me seriously if I have seen that dead toad pancake in my yard. Let me tell you, the costa rican toad population is out of control, and it´s worse in the rainy season. It´s not uncommon for cars to squish toads at night on the road, and the next day or so they bake and turn into toad pancakes. This happens ALL the time. I had a toad pancake in my yard up by the road, had seen it, and didn´t think much of it. My landlord, however, was pretty worked up about it. -you know those toad bones are poisonous- he told me -if you step on a toad bone and it pierces your skin, it´s worse then a snake bite- he slowly drew his finger accross his throat to make sure I understood what he was talking about. -The kids around here always play barefoot, and your dog could try and eat it and die, you really need to watch out for that.- Then after I made the appropriate display of understanding and fear of the toad pancake, he left, and I went to throw the toad into the jungle growing behind my house. I had head horrible stories about toads before, and I wasn´t sure if I should write this one off or take it seriously. My host family during trainig told me that when toads get scared they screte a liquid that can blind humans and kill dogs. My host family at site has similar toad fears, and I just assumed that tropical toads were just as dangerous as tropical frogs. This new toad bone theory was a little too much for me. I asked around and got mixed feedback. Some people were terrified of toad bones and some just of the skin and the evil liquid that they secrete. So, I went to my friend google for help. I found nothing to validify that toad bones are poisonous, but their skin/the white milky liquid they secrete is. It won´t blind you, but it irritates your eyes, and it can really kill small animals.
(2) Taking a shower immediately after you workout gives you the flu:
Well, doing anything that makes you cool down after you workout gives you the flu. If you go outside the gym without a jacket on (yes, even in Upala where its never colder than 80f), if you go outside too soon after you workout in a gym, this also gives you the flu. Basically anything where your body goes from hot to cold is gonna give you the flu. This one I get crap for ALL the time. I used to have a womens workout group that met a few times a week in the evenings. We worked out in the community center (the building that is in front of my house). We worked out in the evenings, when it cooled down to 80 and the sun wasn´t an issue. I was constantly the only one who never brought a jacket. More than a few times a concerned woman would take me aside and tell me that I was gonna get sick walking from the center to my house if I didnt have a jacket on. I just couldn´t bring myself to put on a jacket, though. Risking the flu because I was hot and sweaty and the last thing I wanted to do was put on a sweater, I would brave the tropical elements and walk the 45 seconds to my house in my workout clothes. Oh, and then immediately take a cold shower.
(3) Walking barefoot inside will give you the flu:
From the best of my knowledge, the fear of walking around barefoot inside comes from a legitimate fear of getting hookworm back in the day when people had dirt floors. All but 2 or 3 houses in chimurria have upgraded past dirt floors. But, still, there is a HUGE fear of walking barefoot inside. Flip flops must be worn. The logic is as follows: the flu bacteria that are on the floor will enter your body through your feet. Now that I live alone I can finally walk around barefoot guilt free. Living with host families I couldn´t because it would stress them out way too much if they saw me barefoot. Seriously they would see me, repremand me, and immediately send me to my room for shoes.
(4) The beginning of rainy season gives you the flu:
One of the teachers I worked with explained this one to me. During the dry season, all the flu germs and other germs settle into the ground. During the first rains of the rainy season, these germs float up in the vapor after the rainstorms. I explain this one this way: during rainy season people stay inside more, where there are more germs, are in closer contact with other people and other peoples germs, and could potentially be more vulnerable to the flu.
I know that in the states we have some pretty embedded old wive´s tales about health in our cultural blanket. I´ve been trying to think of a few and here are the ones that makes me roll my eyes the most:
(1) going outside in winter then coming inside to a heated room will give you the flu.
I know you have all heard this one, and I used to cling to it pretty strongly until I sat down and thought about it. The basic theory is that if you go from too hot to too cold it will shock your body and make you more vulnerable to the flu. Ok, think about a native american tradition of soaking in hot springs and then jumping in a cold water to shock your system and jolt it back to life...supposedly to improve your health. There is also the tradition of sweat baths followed by cold showers, which is supposed to cleanse your body and soul. As far as I know the leading western medical knowledge supports the theory that going from hot to cold can actually improve circulation and makes your immune response system faster and stronger. People probably get the flu more often in winter because they are inside more (closer contact to other people, germs, etc) and less active (because they are inside more) both of which compromise health. Going from hot to cold is actually good for you...
(2) Going outside in winter with wet hair will make you catch a cold
What did people do before hair dryers. Probably they didnt do much because they were constantly sick with the flu. This one works on the same logic as tale number 1 above. I think that maaaaaaaaaybe it could be reasonable to not advise someone to go out in sub zero weather with wet hair because it could make you more vulnerable to pnuemonia....but this is not what people are worried about. Wet hair is not gonna give you a cold. Wet hair does not make the cold virus any more or less likely to be in the air around you.
Are there any old wives tales that drive you insane? These are the top ones on my list.
