Bombshell

“It was only a matter of time,” my coworker told me when she learned I am having tummy troubles in Mexico. Ugh.

I tend to have a weak stomach and to get hit with food poisoning and tummy troubles more than others, so I was being uber careful. Asking if every raw fruit or veggie was washed in purified water. Drinking only bottled water. Brushing my teeth with bottled water. Still, I got sick.

On my tour to Lagos de Montebello, they took us to this dodgy tourist restaurant where the menu was recited. The vegetarian dish was a big pile of fried cheese, black beans, peeled cucumbers, pico de gallo, rice and corn tortillas. The pico de gallo was uber spicy but I ate the rest. A German guy I hung out with ate the same thing, but instead of a pile of cheese he had an enormous piece of fried chicken. I took a bite of the cheese. “Hmm, this tastes funny,” I thought. I ate some rice. But really, the cheese was the main attraction, and there wasn’t too much else. So I tried it again. “No, this is either gross or bad.” I ate the rest of the food.

Five hours later, my tummy started hurting. And more and more and more. And I only sat at the hostel’s bonfire for a few minutes as all I wanted was my bed.

I woke up in the middle of the night sick. I felt so terrible and it’s a good thing I was half asleep or I would have felt even worse. I slept with a garbage pail next to my bed (that luckily, I never used).

The entire day has been a myriad of pain, napping, in bed, occasional rush to the toilet, have a bit of a wander to a church or a market or for food, but always coming back to lie in bed. Even sitting up I can’t do too long.

I am grateful I’m in a private room at such a nice hostel and hope it calms down soon. Tomorrow I’m supposed to go to a Mayan village and the following day I’m leaving for Oaxaca.