When the missionaries first opened up the area of Talcomunca, it was the most remote and rural of jungle villages. There was one phone in the entire village that a man by the name of Adán rented out to the local villagers. Every morning at 8:00 a.m. the two Elders in the area would hike to the home of Don Adán and make their phone calls to their District Leader. While one Elder made the phone call, the other listened while Don Adán, a typical campesino, gave sage advice. What follows are some of the typical old wives' tales of the rural country.

Don Adán's Guide to Healthy Living in El Salvador

Caliche, the real Spanish

¡Me gusta sopa de pata! and other Salvadoran delicacies

Peeding ride and other miscellaneous tidbits.

packing list

meet your mission president

the real scoop on El Salvador

Problems with flies? Just hang a bag of water over the table. When the flies see their reflection in the bag of water they get scared and fly away.

If you've just been ironing, better not open that fridge, it can cause all sorts of problems including arthritis and blindness.

Tired of those pesky bats? Tape a piece of aluminum foil to the wall. When you scare the bats, they will look for a way out and be fooled by the shiny foil on the wall, thus flying directly into the wall and be killed instantly.

If you're hot and sweaty, don't drink anything cold, it can cause some serious medical problems including "empacho".

If you're hot and sweaty, and you walk into a home where there is a newborn baby boy, be prepared to hold it so that you don't make it sick.

After each of your children is born, you should attach a small stone, Ojo de Venado (Deer's Eye), to their wrists so that they don't contract anything serious due to the evil eye.

If you have blue eyes, don't look at the "atol de elote", a typical corn drink, while the women are preparing it because you're likely to curdle it with your gaze.

Drinking water right after you have had any milk will give you some serious diarrhea.

El Empacho
Beware of the "empacho". Many people believe that by eating certain things, doing things after you've eaten, well... okay anything can really give you the empacho I suppose, depending on who you're talking to. But people believe that when you become "empachado" that a ball of food actually gets stuck in your stomach or intestine. The only way to get rid of this is by various and sundry cures that are almost always worse than the illness itself.

One of the most popular ways of removing the "empacho" is by having somebody "sobar" you. This entails an extremely harsh and brutally vindictive massaging of the stomach and intestinal areas. By doing this, the local "medicine person" or whoever "sobars" you actually believes they are pushing the empacho out of you and curing you.

Another popular cure requires a mix of some pretty vile medicines, Coca Cola, juice from a lemon, and other delights.

So, as I'm sure you are thinking, this "empacho" is pretty serious business so don't pay much attention to the local Relief Society when they offer to "sobar" you or fix you one of these magic cures. Most likely, a few days will have you feeling great again, and no one has to touch your belly!