We’ve all heard people joke about drinking the water in Mexico. “Don’t drink the water,” they say. Well, that actually goes without saying. I mean really, don’t drink the water. Not even the locals drink the water. There are many other suggestions out there to help prevent you from getting sick from foreign bacteria and parasites. Only eat fruit you can peel. Don’t eat raw vegetables. Don’t eat leafy greens. Don’t eat any milk products that haven’t been pasteurized. Don’t eat food sold on the street. What have I learned from traveling and all these tips? Pardon the pun, but it’s really a crap shoot.
Yes, I said crap shoot. It depends on so many things, and since I am not a medical professional, I can only tell you what has happened to me. I have a sensitive stomach, but sometimes I don’t. I spent eight months in Panama and only got sick once. I even drank the tap water (in the city) at the time. The joke then was the water was so good in Panama City that President Clinton had it imported to the U.S.
This was actually the precedent that was set when I first started traveling in Latin America. I pretty much just avoided drinking the tap water (unless it had been boiled ... or came from Panama City) and usually avoided raw veggies and fruit without thick peels – especially leafy greens, tomatoes, strawberries, etc. Not until one particular trip to Mexico did I brave it and eat raw, leafy greens. The man in the restaurant told me that the salad had been washed in purified water and some kind of bacteria killer. How I just wanted a salad! Bad idea. I was sick, sick, sick as a sick dog. Why did Montezuma feel the need to take his revenge out on me? I love Mexico! On top of that, I was also vomiting. And it lasted a few days. Damn you salad!
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| All these fruits are in the "thick skinned" category: watermelon, papaya, and pineapple. This is in Xela, Guatemala. |
When I spent a few months in Guatemala, I was a little more careful than I might have been in the past because the Mexico incident was burned in my intestinal memory. But not for everything. My host family purchased queso de hoja every couple of days, a homemade cheese charmingly wrapped in a palm leaf. I loved that cheese. It was close to the consistency of feta, but not quite as crumbly and not nearly as salty. I am willing to bet that no pasteurization was involved in the making of that cheese. Did it make me sick? Nope. Did the raw radish salad mixed with lime juice that my host mother served me for lunch on Christmas Eve make me sick? Why yes, yes it did. I didn’t even think twice about eating it. It was a raw vegetable salad and that did not even register in my cocky brain (stomach bacteria -- bah!). But by the evening, when my host family had invited me to go with them to visit other family members around Xela to celebrate Christmas, I was starting to feel a bit funky. For the next several days, including Christmas Day, I spent a lot of time in the bathroom, gifts from both ends of the tree, if you know what I mean.
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| A fruity and tasty way to stay healthy. Here I am holding a great Latin American fruit, the banana. Thick skin, sweeter and more delicious than up north, great energy source, and good for your stomach. The object on the right, with the fruit design cover, is a water jug filled with purified water, something you see in many homes. |
You should be aware that people in Latin America do not hold the same shame we in the United States do regarding bathroom issues. They feel no need for euphemisms. This was evident on that Christmas Eve when my symptoms started. Here is an example of a conversation at a house we visited that holiday evening (a house full of strangers, except for my host family):
Host Mother to Family Member: This is our houseguest who is a volunteer. Her name is Jill. She is from the United States. She has diarrhea.
Family Member: She has diarrhea? Oh dear, you have diarrhea? Did you hear that Carlos? She has diarrhea!
Other Family Member: Would you like some tea, dear? You know, for your diarrhea.
Me: Okay, that would be nice.
Family Member: Yes, it will really help with the diarrhea. (Yelling to elderly family member) ISN’T THAT RIGHT, ABUELA? IT WILL HELP HER DIARRHEA!
Abuela: (Thankfully only nods).
The first time I was made aware of this casualness regarding intestinal issues was when I was traveling in Panama with my boyfriend at the time, who was visiting from the U.S. Like I said, I didn’t have too many stomach issues in Panama, but evidently he had eaten something that didn’t agree with him. So we went to a drug store to get some Pepto Bismol or something similar. We were in the store, looking around and the pharmacist asked if we needed help. I told her we were looking for Pepto and she asked, “Do you have diarrhea?” My boyfriend was mortified. She hadn’t even whispered the question. She said it in a normal tone of voice! But she didn’t care. She didn’t think it was anything more embarrassing than having a cough or a headache.
I worked with students and volunteers from other countries when I was in Guatemala – foreigners like me. Part of my initiation for the newbie travelers was to tell them to be careful of what they ate and drank. After being so sick, I was more cautious ... at least with raw fruits and vegetables. But these volunteers did not listen to me. And they didn’t get sick. Not like I did anyway. One Italian couple I met had eaten food from a street vendor. They ate the exact same thing, and the woman got very sick, while her boyfriend wasn’t even fazed. My Spanish tutor, a native Guatemalan, got so sick from eating something suspect that he had to cancel our sessions for a week. Oh yes, locals get sick from bacteria too, I was informed. Like I said: crap shoot.
So when you are getting ready to travel to a developing country, remember that you can’t always avoid stomach problems, but you can be careful and aware. You can also bring along some Cipro from your doctor (or other antibiotic to kill possible stomach bacteria) and anything else your medical travel clinic recommends for possible bouts of travelers’ diarrhea.
That’s right, I said DIARRHEA!
Get used to it.
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