How do you say Vicks in Spanish? Vapolatum by Deanna Rice

Leaving Baton Rouge in the midst of summer, I did not consider packing Vicks in my medicine kit. As with many schools in the middle of winter, a bug is going around and several of our group have been caught by it. Unfortunately, two of our students were missing from our team today due to illness. Fortunately for Leah and I, we have enough of a cold to make us feel under the weather but not enough to keep us away from school. To keep us going, we went in search of basic supplies of Vicks and cough drops. In Chile, over the counter medications are all behind the counter at a pharmacy; there is not an aisle with cold remedies to peruse, neither is there a section of cough drops. We found cough drops at the check out lanes with the candy and other sundries at the local Taregt equivalent. Leah suggested perhaps Halls were considered mints in Chile. This was partially confirmed when we went to a restaurant for an afternoon snack and instead of finding a bowl of mints at the exit, there was a bowl of individually wrapped Halls. We made our way to the farmacia where I did my best to explain Vicks vapor rub. I must have done a good job, because the pharmacist brought out Vapolatum, alivio de la congestion nasal. My host family made chicken soup with rice noodles and hot tea with lemon and honey. I know I will feel much better tomorrow, but tonight I'm sure several families are having good laughs around their dinner tables about Leah's and my attempts to communicate our list of desired medicants.