This week:
In honour of Valentine’s Day and women everywhere…
A story so estrogen-filled it should come with an image of Trump’s head at the center of red ‘no’ sign.
(Fun fact: a woman’s body does pump out more estrogen when she’s nursing because it boosts the immunity of both mother and baby during this crucial first stage of nurture. But I digress.)
When I was in Bulgaria last summer I wanted to stock up on herbal teas.
Bulgaria boasts a broad menu of healthful herbs sourced from the mountains.
The resulting teas are both delicious and great for you.
On this particular day I was in an apteka (which is a pharmacy, but most of them carry supplements, herbs and teas as well). One tea in particular listed herbs I thought I would like, but I was unfamiliar with the Bulgarian term karmachki.
I was going to ask but there was lady playing fifty million questions with the pharmacist, so I eventually lost patience, paid for my tea, and left. A bit later I picked up the box only to discover there was an English translation on the other side which read…
BREASTFEEDING TEA.
Ahhhh…
Karmachki are breastfeeding women.
That makes sense.
Oh well, it still has good ingredients I reasoned, and put it in my suitcase.
I hadn’t touched it since then for the mostly irrational fear that it would turn me into a eunuch.
(Although if it promotes prolactin release, as is my guess, that’s bad for testosterone. Hiking prolactin is one of the mechanisms by which some anti-anxiety drugs whack your t-levels. Another aside.)
That’s until last Saturday.
With no other tea in the house, and badly wanting a tea…I cracked.
With quite a flavorful outcome I might add.
Besides that, it did make me feel motherly which was nice.
And I skipped right past the whole sore nipples thing.
Good day all around.
Those “lost in translation” moments will happen any time you try to learn something new. Accept it.
Give yourself permission to be a beginner.
In any case, things will either go well…
OR you’ll get a good story out of it.
🙂
Happy Translating,
Conor Kelly