I've never been one to pop pills. When I get sick, I normally just wait for it to go away. Well, it turns out that when it comes to being ill, Indonesians are full of advice and solutions that don't necessarily involve taking pills. After being inflicted by a variety of ailments ever since Christmas, I didn't think it would hurt to give a couple traditional remedies a shot. In this post I will give you a little glimpse into the Indonesian world of alternative medicine.The first remedy that I tried, and a personal favorite, is the "Jamu Store". "Jamu" is basically herbal mixtures combined to heal all sorts of ailments, typically found in thick liquid form and ingested orally. You can get jamu from the local mixers in your neighborhood, however, the shop downtown was recommended to me as the source for the most effective jamu...
I love the novelty of it... you walk into the store, approach the counter, tell the nice ladies what ails you, and they go to work on your very own custom concoction. You have a seat and shortly thereafter you are served a glass of the jamu potion accompanied by a very necessary small glass of limy water to wash it down (the jamu is extremely bitter and depending on your ailment, reaches varying levels of disgusting/rancid).
If you're worried about taste, I recommend going to the jamu store for a cold as opposed to stomach problems... the common cold jamu is no delight, but the most tolerable I've had. But hey, if it's disgusting, if must be effective, right? Maybe.
This next method may really surprise/worry you, but I assure you this method is widely used in Indonesia from the rice farmer in the backwoods to the government official in Jakarta. It is called "Kerokan". The basis for kerokan is that many symptoms are caused by a condition called "masuk angin" which means "the entering of air" into the body. When you get cold or wet or leave your mouth open too long, air enters in and causes a cold, sore throat, stomach problems, fever, or a headache. When I first arrived I would see people now and then with mysterious red stripes on their backs or necks. Since everything was new to me then, I didn't think much of it. Then when my friends offered kerokan as an effective remedy to my sickness, it all made sense.
The tools required are simple: Kayu Putih Oil (or baby oil will work), a coin (preferably with rough edges), and a friend.
The whole process maybe takes a little over a half hour. The oil is applied to one area at a time and your friend rubs that spot with the coin for maybe 30 seconds and then moves on the the next spot. This is done in order to increase blood circulation as well as provide an avenue for the trapped "angin", or air to escape from your body, thus making you all better.
It is done to the back, neck, and chest typically. As bad as it looks, I can assure you that it is not painful, just slightly irritating... well it might be a little painful on the neck... there is no blood, scrapes, or wounds of any kind, just red streaks that results from your skin being rubbed incessantly.
My friends say that if you are not sick and receive this treatment, your skin will not turn red like that. The streaks last for 2 or 3 days.
I also wanted to show you a couple other items while on the topic of medicine. I love these cure-all potions... unlike jamu and kerokan, these are not highly reputable...
Assalam is kind of like the Arabic "hello". On the back for the indications at the top it says, "Speeds up Healing... Lord-willing". Then below that heading is the list of diseases that it is effective for. For those of you without a translator handy, here are just a few examples...
jantung - heart
kencing manis - diabetes
kencing batu - kidney stones
darah tinggi/rendah - both high and low blood pressure
menambah nafsu makan - restores your appetite
paru-paru - lungs
And you can also see that it helps with cholesterol problems, tumors, asthma, etc... Lord-willing. So your bases are pretty well covered with this one.
The last thing I want to show you I found rather interesting. The last time I went to the jamu store, I was accompanied by my friend who was not sick. We tried to think of an ailment for her to have so we could get her some jamu for it. Well, she decided that she had memory problems... a common ailment amongst language students. We decided to give it a shot. The nice ladies behind the counter did not whip up a memory-enhancing smoothie, but nonetheless, lo and behold...
At around 50 cents for a hundred pills, we went for it... unfortunately I can't tell you whether they work or not, because she has been forgetting to take them...
