Maritza recommended an infusion of guanabana leaves in water; she said it would have effect rapidly. Guanabana is a delicious fruit here, the soursop, and we had planted 2 trees three years ago. Mary gathered leaves, made the infusion, I drank maybe a couple of tablespoons of this concoction that tasted like boiled leaves--and just about instantly, the vomiting (and the accompanying diarrhea) stopped. I was able to rest for the first time, and managed a half-way decent night's sleep.
Yesterday afternoon, they came over with another medicinal remedy, the resinous bark of a tree whose name I didn't catch but which we'll get tonight. Ricardo brought us a small branch that we can plant in order to have our own tree. Another infusion, which tasted worse than the first! Imagine something that smells--and tastes--a little like turpentine. Maritza, laughing, said that of course it tasted bad--it was medicine, and therefore it was supposed to! I well remember this theory from my mother who was convinced that the worse it tasted, the better it was for you.
I reserve judgement on the correlation between taste and benefit, but I am a believer in the guanabana leaf infusion.
Ricardo has this old, old book called Indigenous Medicines which I'm going to search for. It has a lot of remedies from medicinal plants. Last night, Martitza and Ricardo recited a whole list of such remedies, from ingredients that are easily available here, never mind from the plants themselves. I was in no shape to remember them, but it's something I intend to pursue.
It's like having your own physicians just a few minutes away.
