We've been sick. As in, can't breathe through your nose, stay in bed, dizzy, weepy, plugged ears sick. It started with me last Wednesday night, and then the kids got it over the weekend. The hubby (as usual) is the only one who's been able to escape the misery. Yesterday I went back to work, and the teachers and coordinators could tell that I wasn't back to 100%.
I say, "yes, yes, I've got a pretty bad cold. And my kids are at home with the same thing."
They say, "Oh, it's the weather."
I can't tell you HOW many times I've heard this since I've moved here. You have a cough? It's the weather. Your have a sinus infection? The weather. Sore throat? The weather.
I'm here to say, it's NOT the weather.
It seems to me that many Brazilians missed that science class where you learn about germs, and how sickness is passed. And this goes for the highly educated teachers at my school (some with multiple degrees and previous career experience) to the guy with the 2nd grade education selling candy at the street corner. I usually say something about how I work with about 150 children at 3 different campuses, and that 2 of them coughed in my face, 5 of them sneezed on me, and one always licks the shakers that we use in music class (actually he puts EVERYTHING in his mouth). And the response is, "oh yes, the weather changed last week and now everybody is feeling bad."
But petty annoyances aside, this makes me think about things that we Americans assume and say that are not accurate. What misinformation are we spreading? What anecdotes do we believe in? Listening to classical music makes kids smart? Carrots will make your eye sight better?
Uma Reintrodução
7 months ago