Auto Rickshaws and Amoebas

I have dazzled you all with the colorful, magical fantasy world that is part of India. But alas, there is another part. My two nemeses are now: auto rickshaw drivers, and my amoeba named Andy.
Rickshaws are three wheel vehicles somewhere between a motorcycle and a car that are used as taxis. There are thousands of them in the city and probably the primary way that I get around (besides the bus to school in the morning). Rickshaw drivers are notorious for cheating people, so one must always insist they use the meter. I have not gotten into one without a meter flipped on. However, I happen to have no knowledge of Bangalore as a city. I am just now starting to recognize landmarks, but it is scary getting into an auto and realizing the driver could take you anywhere. I will only tell one story of my hatred for rickshaw drivers as it is also quite comical. One afternoon, Bridget and I caught a rickshaw to take us home... so the story begins. About 20 minutes into the ride he stops and says that his rickshaw is broken. It was believable as the rickshaw has been going incredibly slow... So we all get out, driver included. Bridget and I attempt to get a new rickshaw while the driver manually pushes his up the hill. No more than a minute later and Indian woman runs up to our rickshaw and asks for a ride. The driver hops back in and off they go. Hmmm... that wasn't cool. SO then, we get into another rickshaw after being refused by about 5. We head out toward home when again 20 minutes later the rickshaw slows to a stop. This time it isn't because it is broken, he just simply had an errand to run. So he tell us to wait and grabs some bags from behind our heads to run into the shop. Five minutes later we are on our way again only to realize we had done a huge circle and in fact he had taken us 20 minutes the wrong direction to run his errand. But of course, he didn't understand english, so when i tried to yell at him it was to no avail. Moral of the story: never trust a rickshaw driver.
Now, Andy... the amoeba who is currently residing in my intestines. THe past three days have been full of pain, diarrhea, and depression as I struggle with being sick in a foreign country. And I really think the amoeba has been here for a little bit. However, today is much better, and I am hopeful that I am on the up and up. My family didn't quite grasp my issue. A week and a half ago I had one day of diarrhea and sickness, my host mom decided that she would exorcise that illness with some burning broomstick wood criss crossed in front of me. It may have worked momentarily, but then a week later the diarrhea was back with a vengeance. This time, no fire was going to save me. I got some meds from the doctor associated with my program and settled in for lots of rest. My family didn't seem content with the parasite explanation and continued to try to feed me and conspire with friends on what they had done wrong. Sunday, one of my many "aunties" came over with a jar of some sort of seeds and a bowl of yellow powder. This is the aryuvedic approach. I swallowed two handfuls of the bitter seeds and one of the pepper powder none of which was very pleasant... and then continued to have a terrible day. Later on, another auntie tried to get me out of bed to take me to her sister who would heal me. I decided against that plan, and to just let western medicine do its thing for the time being. That being said, I am more open to alternative approaches to medicine now than ever before.