Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Paraguay

Tidbits 3

1) As I headed east through Peru, the elevation went up and the air
became both colder and more dry. My cuticles were taking a beating, a
few minor hangnails developing into painful crevasses of torn skin. In
a desperate bid to have any skin left on my fingers by the end of this
trip, I bought a small tin of lotion in La Paz and have been applying
it to all my fingers, from the PIP joints down, 2-5x per day.

It's worked even better than expected. Not only has the skin healed,
but the nails themselves seem healthier. The vertical ridges -- which
people had ascribed to everything from mineral deficiencies to
imbalanced chi to "some people are just like that" -- are
disappearing.

2) A few weeks ago, I went to a "botica" in La Paz to buy some
shampoo. The lady pointed to a shelf but all of the bottles were too
big to carry except for a little pink-capped, clear bottle of baby
shampoo. I grunted "gimme that one" and tossed it in my bag. I didn't
get a chance to use it until a week later, in Chile, after four days
without a shower while in the deserts of southwestern Bolivia.

I was so excited about that shower! I stepped into the hot water with
the bottle in hand and just stood there, sighing, enjoying the hot
water for a few minutes before I started washing my hair. The first
dollop of shampoo didn't lather well. My hair felt greasy after four
days without a shower. I added more. The baby shampoo, weakened, I
presumed, so it didn't sting the eyes, wasn't really up to the task.
The bottle was cheap, though, and I really wanted a great shower, so I
didn't care if I used half the bottle to get clean.

I sprayed from the bottle directly onto my head, wondering if this
worthless, latherless garbage was really even shampoo. At that point,
one of my hands brushed my shoulder. It felt oily.

I realized, instantly, my mistake. Looking down at the bottle and
READING IT for the first time ever, it said "Baby Aceite." Aceite: I'd
seen that word before and remembered. Baby oil. The bottle was now
half empty. In the end, I was barefoot, hobbling down a dirt road in a
Chilean village, after dark, covered in baby oil, looking for the
nearest store where I could buy some soap. So unimaginably dumb! I
couldn't stop laughing at how absurd the whole situation was.

3) I sat next to an English girl on a long bus ride who had a blister
pack of pills sitting on her lap. She told me she'd gone into a
pharmacy, told them she had a bit of a sore throat, and received a
pack of twelve 80/400 Bactrim tabs! Everything that's not a
"controlled" (scheduled) substance here is available over the counter.
Just ask. I asked her, a bit facetiously, if they mentioned how often
she'd have to take them, or for how long. Nobody had told her a thing
and she hadn't asked.

posted by daviduri @ 11:20 AM