I think one of the most amusing things that we as Peace Corps Volunteers deal with in Jamaica is a complete lack of respect for germ theory. Not that hygiene is particularly disregarded, but superstition is more of a reality. Can we as Americans politely point out that getting stuck in the rain will not make us sick? Of course, but that won’t stop every community member you pass in a light rain urge you to walk faster to home lest you get sick. It also will not stop any community member who got stuck in the same rain to declare the next day that the rain wet them up and they are sick today. I have yet to figure out if this is purely psychosomatic or a medical anomaly but either way, it happens.
These idiosyncrasies are entertaining and sometimes perplexing when one is in good health (picking ones nose in public here is a commonplace, going barefoot inside will cause your auntie to make you wear your slippers or you’ll catch cold) but I got an insiders look this past week when I actually did catch a cold.
It was the typical sneezing, snotting, earplugged head cold that ends with coughing, a headache you just can’t shake and that same damned ear showing no signs of easing up on the pressure. In Jamaica they would say that you “kech a flu” the minute they hear you sneeze- in American we all know means you’re practically dying of fever and sore joints and can’t leave your bed, not the case here. I will proclaim that I may have had lyme disease, scarlet fever, whooping cough, strep and two cases of shingles but I have never had the flu, bronchitis or pneumonia so… there’s a point in there somewhere.
There is something to be said of the common cold in the tropics. It really does suck. The humidity is everywhere, the heat makes you feel like your head is in a oven wrapped in pillows- then the rain comes, the air pressure changes, your headspace struggles to keep up and you’re in bed with chills and a cup of tea. So having experienced this on day one, I attempted to relinquish my American belief that “im not really that sick” and did nothing but sleep and read for the next 48 hours. You know the resolve it takes to wake up for work and decide in the hour you need to get ready if you should call in for a sick day? Peace Corps volunteers don’t have that pressure because there is not a single Jamaican that would even question if you actually are sick, or sick enough to not be doing what you need to do. I even started proclaiming over the phone or through my gate at inquirers “I have a flu, I can’t be out in the night dew”, not because it’s the truth but it’s their truth so it still works.
I can’t possibly tell you which cultures’ tactic is better. While I find the basic disregard for proven science frustrating at all times here, I do appreciate the leniency and sympathy people have for illness- it is healthier and less stressful. I think being sick in a new place is always less comfortable than being sick in a climate controlled environment while dad plays piano and mom makes you lipton soup with extra noodles. Thankfully though, my new place has a fan, people who love me and cock soup, an acceptable alternative in all categories.
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