Internship Blog: Abraham Kim Post #3

I was walking through Baito Market (an outdoor market where they sell anything from seasonal vegetable, fruit, fish (dried and fresh), and other meats to selling appliances and other random things you could need). In the vegetable section, where I was surrounded by green bell peppers, watermelons, cabbage, tomatoes, and onions, there were these stones, also for sale. I confusedly looked at them and asked the lady what these were for. She looked at me. She understood me, but she didn’t respond. I asked again, and she smiled but bit her tongue. Another lady selling vegetables behind me laughed and told me the stones were for pregnant women. It was pretty interesting so I continued with my questions as this lady was much more comfortable in talking about it. This stone is traditional medicine for pregnant women and they stir the stone in water to let it dissolve and the woman drinks it. Apparently it lessens the pain of giving birth. The lady continues and says the stone has lots of minerals and tells me to try it. Well, I didn’t want to buy a full stone that I can’t really use, so I asked the first lady if I could test it, just take a lick or something, and she decided to break off a small piece.



I licked it and didn’t taste like anything so I decided to keep it as a souvenir. I brought it home and left it on the table and since power went out and dinner was late, my ‘maid’ (it’s weird calling her my maid but she cleans my room and cooks my food) brought me my food to my room for the first time and sees the stone. She laughs and starts asking me questions as to why I have this stone. I tell her I just want to take it home as a souvenir and she quietly looks at me for a while and then asks, “Who is the pregnant woman?”

Disclaimer: No women were impregnated