2004-08-01 - 1:59 a.m.

Brief observations:

Tues., 13 April 2004 - on the subway...

Mabel Welch's double is sitting across from me. Amazing how many people here resemble the Celtic-Anglo-French-Native mix in Maine.

9 June '04 -- Plantain, called Cheelgyong-e by my pharmacist, is used for fighting infection in Corea, too. Simon says cheelchong-ah; this may be a difference of dialect only.

Talking to the pharmacist and Simon about the medicinal use of plantain came about because I bought some in Kkachisan Market to put on my eye. The tearduct was all gunky and my sinuses were sore under my right eye. I put on an eyepatch with a crushed leaf under it. I wore it for 24 hours amd my eye cleared up and the sinuses stopped hurting. So, I sallied forth to see if my Maine remedy was known here. Sure enough, the pharmacist remembered his mother using plantain under bandages to prevent his scraped arm from getting infected, when he was a boy. It stands to reason that an herb from the Eurasian landmass would be known here.

The Abenaki people in Maine called it "white man's footprint" because the Europeans brought it with them. And they used it to draw out infections. I learned about it from "Grammarite." Then, a Mic-mac told me that she had heard from her grandma how to use it: Fold up the leaf and nibble at it with your teeth to crush it so the inner juices can reach your skin. Al dente!

The pharmacist told me that plantain is used to wrap rice and meat, similar to "stuffed" grapeleaves and cabbage in Greek and Lebanese cooking. And, like any other vegetable, it can be marinated in oil, vinegar and so forth to make a side-dish (salad) in the general Corean classification of "pan chan."

Happy Trails!

~ Sil in Corea

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