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I will tell you my story once slowly and the second time a little bit faster.
Today, I want to talk to you about sickness.
I've been feeling very sick lately.
I think it has to do with my trip to Rio, Brazil.
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Normally, whenever I get sick, it has something to do with my sleep schedule.
Normally, it has to do with the amount and the quality of sleep that I'm getting.
And just keeping up with my rest and sleep in general is very important for me to stay healthy.
But now that I think about it, I don't think I even got one full night sleep in my whole week in Rio.
And I'm usually very sensitive to changes in my sleep schedule.
If I don't get a full night's rest, I'm crabby. day long.
I'm moody and angry and just insufferable to be around.
I'm very crabby, and especially with my English lessons.
I need to have lots of energy to And I need to be in a good mood and mindset to be able to give my English lessons in a fun and structured way.
But this one weekend, for example, I pulled an all-nighter.
To pull an all-nighter means to stay up all night and not sleep.
Have you ever pulled an all-nighter before?
Well, I did.
And let me tell you, I will not do that again.
I was tired the whole week after that one all-nighter.
I literally couldn't function.
I would wake up in the morning and have my normal routine.
I would eat breakfast, teach a couple classes and after maybe five hours I would feel exhausted, ready to sleep.
So, I would have to take a nap.
Maybe a one or two hour nap. to recuperate, then I would be fine.
A couple hours of being awake would pass by and I would be feeling exhausted again.
It was crazy.
It was like I had an insane amount of sleep debt.
We call it sleep debt when you basically owe your body sleep or rest.
Just like you can owe money or be in debt with money. you can also be in debt with sleep.
But I finally paid off my sleep debt after four days of sleeping.
That's why, like I said, I wouldn't pull an all-nighter again.
It's too intense for my body.
But anyways, That's why I feel I got sick this week.
Because I was pushing my body too far.
I swear I was walking every day at least 40,000 steps a day.
I remember checking my phone and every time at least 40000 steps day and I would be so tired my body would be aching everywhere ready to sleep, but I would still go to sleep late and wake up early.
So, apart from pushing my body too far, I wouldn't even give my body the chance to recuperate that energy or rest even a bit.
So I think I pushed my body over the edge and now I'm paying the price.
I'm paying the consequences.
That's why I feel super congested like I blow my nose and I don't know how it never stops.
The mucus just keeps coming and coming.
I don't even know where it's coming from at this point and I also had a terrible cough.
One of those coughs that's just always tickling your throat.
You feel a constant tickle that you need to cough.
I hate coughing.
And after a while of coughing, it starts to hurt my throat.
So I try to take cough drops to soothe my throat.
Cough drops are really good for relieving and soothing the pain temporarily, only for a short period of time.
But for long-term solutions, it's best to take antibiotics.
That helps relieve the pain altogether and gets rid of the virus or bacteria that you have.
But usually when I get a sore throat and I don't want to take antibiotics, I always try home remedies first.
My home remedy for a sore throat is tea, but not just any tea.
I like to make turmeric tea.
With turmeric, honey, lime juice, pepper, and ginger.
This tea works like magic.
It soothes and relieves the pain in my throat right away.
Turmeric is just magical.
I swear it's the solution to so many different sicknesses that I get.
But it's especially useful for a sore throat.
You should definitely try using turmeric if you haven't already.
What are some of your home remedies you use for a sore throat?
What's your go-to tea when you have a cough or a sore throat?
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I have to say this sickness that I have isn't that bad comparing it to other sicknesses that I have had.
One time, I remember I had salmonella and I literally didn't move from my bed for two whole weeks.
Any movements would spin me out and make me feel dizzy and eventually make me throw up.
Every food that I ate or smelled would make me feel nauseous.
It's so sad feeling nauseous because I love to eat.
So much.
But even my favorite foods, my stomach just couldn't handle.
I lost so much weight in those two weeks.
My doctor told me to stay hydrated and take your medication and stay rested and eventually you will feel better.
There wasn't much else that I could do.
I don't get sick very often, but when I do, it's usually very bad.
I'm just lucky that I'm at home right now and my family can take care of me in my sickness.
Who takes care of you when you're sick?
Even the smallest things like going to the store or cooking a meal or simply making a cup of tea for myself can be such a struggle.
So it's really nice to have my family here to help me.
I've been sick in foreign countries before while I'm alone.
And let me tell you, it's not nice.
I did make some good friends who would help take care of me while I was sick.
But essentially you are alone in a country and you have to go out and buy your medicine alone and make your own tea alone and cook your own meals all by yourself and generally just take care of yourself alone.
Being alone in a foreign country when you're sick did end up helping me in a way.
It helped me by making me more independent and capable of taking care of myself.
Being sick anywhere is not nice, but I've learned some really useful remedies from different friends, all in different countries.
In Portugal is where I met a friend who showed me that turmeric is really good for you.
She was from Nepal.
She showed me to grab your turmeric and heat it up on the stove in the fire and eat it.
And it's a huge boost to your immune system and it's really good for a sore throat or a throat infection.
She also showed me golden milk, milk with turmeric, ginger, lime and pepper.
And honey.
And that was a huge aid to my sickness when I needed it.
Are there any more remedies that you know of that you can teach me?
Maybe some for a headache or a runny nose.
Maybe some for a stomach ache, for example.
My grandma lives in a small town in Mexico.
And once I had a really bad stomach ache.
So she made me a green tea with lime, ginger, and honey.
And she gave me a massage across my belly and back.
And it was like magic.
All of my pain disappeared.
It happened several times now where my grandma has so many natural remedies, home remedies.
I don't think she ever would need to buy pharmaceutical medicine.
And it's not good to take antibiotics all the time, because sometimes a sickness will go away with time.
But sometimes it's so hard to wait out a sickness.
So I just resort to antibiotics for faster and easier results.
It's very bad to do because you can build immunity to antibiotics. after a while of using them.
But I can't help it, especially if it's during the week when I have to teach.
When I teach, I talk and I smile and I laugh and I can't be a good teacher if I'm in pain.
It's the same when I used to go to school.
When I was younger, maybe around 8 to 15, my parents worked at the same school that I studied at.
So whenever I would get sick, I had no other option but to go to school.
I couldn't stay at home because both of my parents worked at the same school as me.
So instead, I would stay in my mom's classroom under her desk, and I would lay there and sleep.
I remember her students would see me and say, whoa, who's that?
Is that your daughter, Miss Jessica?
What's she doing under the table?
Meanwhile, I was just laying there, feeling so sick and having a really bad fever.
But it was a better option than being in my own classroom with that sickness.
When you were a kid, who would take care of you when you had to stay home from school?
Tell me about your experience as a kid with sick days.
I used to hate going to school despite feeling so sick.
But I understand now that work is time consuming and it's a big deal to take even one day off of work.
What do you think?
When do you decide it's worth taking a sick day off of work?
Where do you draw the line between going to work and needing to stay home from sickness?
Comment all your answers down below so I can see your progress.
Like this video for more content like this and subscribe to improve your English every Monday and Wednesday.
Now I'll repeat everything faster so you can practice in a slow and a fast way.
I've been feeling really sick lately. think it has to do with my trip to Rio, Brazil.
Normally, whenever I get sick, it has to do with the quality and amount of sleep that I've been getting, and just keeping up with my rest in general is very important for me to stay healthy.
But now that I think about it, I don't think I even got one full night rest in my whole week in Rio, and I'm usually very sensitive when it comes to my sleep schedule.
If I don't get a full night's rest, I'm crabby all day and I just become insufferable to be around.
I get very crabby when I don't get enough sleep and especially with my English lessons.
I need to have a lot of energy to be in a good mood and to be able to give a fun and structured English lesson.
This one weekend, I pulled an all-nighter.
To pull an all-nighter means to stay up all night.
Have you ever pulled an all-nighter?
I did and let me tell you, I will not do that again.
I was tired the whole week after that one night of not sleeping enough.
I literally couldn't function.
I would wake up in the morning, I would have breakfast and I would teach, and maybe five hours later I would be feeling exhausted, ready to sleep again.
So I would have to take a nap, either a one or two hour nap just to recuperate.
Then I would wake up and feel energized again.
But only a couple hours later, I would be feeling exhausted again.
It was crazy.
It was like I had an insane amount of sleep debt.
We call it sleep debt when you basically owe your body rest and sleep.
Just like you can get in debt with money, You can get in debt with sleep.
But I finally paid off my sleep debt.
That's why, like I said, I would not pull an all-nighter again.
But anyways, that's why I think I feel congested.
I was doing things every day in Rio, walking at least 40,000 steps a day.
I remember checking my phone, and seeing at least 40,000 steps every day.
And I would be so tired.
I would be so ready to sleep, but I would still go to sleep late and then wake up early the next morning.
So apart from pushing my body too far, I wouldn't even give my body the chance to recuperate.
So I think I push my body over the edge And now I'm paying the price.
I'm paying the consequences.
That's why I'm congested.
I blow my nose and I don't know how it never ends.
The mucus just keeps coming and coming.
And I don't know where it's even coming from at this point.
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I also had a terrible cough.
One of those tickles in your throat that just won't go away.
I hate coughing.
And after a while of coughing, it starts to hurt my throat.
A good remedy for that are cough drops.
Cough drops help soothe my throat. and relieve the pain.
But cough drops are good for relieving the pain temporarily.
But for long-term remedies, it's best to take antibiotics.
That helps relieve the pain and get rid of the sickness completely.
Usually, when I get a sore throat and I don't want to take antibiotics, I always try home remedies first.
My home remedy for a sore throat is tea.
But not just any old tea.
I like to make turmeric tea.
With turmeric, ginger, lime, pepper, and honey.
This tea works like magic.
Turmeric is just magical, I swear.
It's the solution to so many different sicknesses that I get.
But it's especially useful for a sore throat.
You should definitely try using turmeric if you haven't already.
What are some of your home remedies for a sore throat?
What's your go-to tea for when you have a cough or a sore throat?
I have to say this sickness is not that bad comparing it to other sicknesses that I've had in the past.
One time I had salmonella and I literally couldn't move from my bed for two whole weeks.
Any movements would make me feel dizzy, would make me spin, and I would have to throw up.
Every food that I ate made me feel nauseous, and it's so sad feeling nauseous because I love eating food and even with my favorite foods, my stomach just couldn't handle it.
I lost so much weight in those two weeks.
But my doctor told me to just stay hydrated and take my medication and wait to feel better.
It's all that I could do.
There was nothing else I could do.
I'm just lucky I'm at home right now.
And I have my family to take care of me.
Who takes care of you when you're sick?
Even the smallest things, like making tea for yourself or cooking for yourself or going to buy medicine for yourself.
It's really nice having people around to help you out. like your family or friends.
Because I've been sick before in a foreign country, and it's not nice.
I did make some good friends while traveling, and they would help me out whenever they could.
But essentially, You're in that country alone and you have to go out and buy medicine alone.
You have to make your tea alone.
You have to cook by yourself and just take care of yourself alone.
Being alone in a foreign country did end up helping me in a way.
I definitely felt a lot more independent and comfortable being alone than I did before.
It taught me to fend for myself and to take care of myself.
Being sick anywhere isn't nice, but I have learned some really useful remedies from friends in different places in the world.
In Portugal is where I made a friend who showed me that turmeric is really good for you.
She was from Nepal.
She showed me to grab turmeric and heat it up on the stove, in the fire, and then eat it.
It didn't taste the best.
But it's a huge boost to your immune system, and it's really good for sore throats.
I also learned how to make golden milk, which is milk with turmeric ginger, lime and pepper and honey.
And that was a huge aid to my sickness at the time.
Are there any more remedies you know for different sicknesses?
Maybe some for a headache, for a runny nose, or maybe for a stomach ache?
For example, my grandma lives in a small town in Mexico.
And once I had a really bad stomach ache.
She made me a green tea with lime, ginger, and honey.
And then she gave me a massage all around my belly and back.
And it was like magic.
All of my pain disappeared.
It's happened several times now where my grandma knows so many home remedies.
I don't think she would ever need to buy pharmaceuticals.
I know it's not good to take antibiotics for sore throats all the time, because sometimes it will eventually go away on its own.
But sometimes it's so hard to deal with it that I just resort to antibiotics.
It's bad because you can build immunity to antibiotics after a while, but I can't help it sometimes.
Especially if it's during the week when I have to teach.
When I teach, I talk and I smile and I laugh.
And I can't be a good teacher if I'm in pain.
It's the same when I used to go to school.
My parents always worked at the same school that I went to as a kid.
So whenever I would get sick, there were no other options but to go to school.
I couldn't stay home because both my parents worked at the same school as I went to.
So instead, I would have to stay in my mom's classroom, under her desk, and sleep.
I remember her students seeing me and saying, Whoa, who's that?
Is that your daughter, Miss Jessica?
What's she doing under the table?
The table.
Meanwhile, I was just there. with a terrible fever, feeling sick and bad, just trying to sleep.
But it was definitely better than being in my classroom learning.
When you were a kid, who would take care of you when you had to stay home from school?
Tell me about your experience as a kid with sick days.
I used to hate going to school despite feeling so sick.
But I understand now that work is time-consuming and it's a big deal to take even one day off of work.
What do you think?
When do you decide that it's time to take a sick day?
And when do you decide that you can still go to work even though you're sick?
Where do you draw the line?
Comment all your answers down below so I can see your progress.
Like this video for more content like this and subscribe to Improve Your English every Monday and Wednesday.
