Rules

The first thing I noticed about Antigua was, it was very clean. Compared to a lot of developing cities I had seen, Antigua seemed to have no trash on the streets and actually had garbage cans! The second thing I noticed was how much English there was everywhere. Bar signs read “jazz every night”, “cheese fondu”,” great Italian food”. This was very different from a lot of places I had traveled, where even the capital cities had some English but were not completely catered to tourists. And that was the third thing. The number of tourists in Antigua was astounding. Whether it be American language students in Antigua to learn Spanish for the summer or German retired couples looking for a few weeks of escape, you could find them here.

 

Perhaps it was this excessive catering to tourists and foreigners that made me forget my usual rule when traveling: Don’t eat the tomatoes.

 

As I explored on my own waiting for my friend to arrive I was so hungry and excited to try Guatemalan food. After some recommendations from random local shop keepers I was directed to a place that looked a lot more American than I had wanted. This time too hungry to relocate, I sat down to enjoy my first meal in Guatemala and perhaps this zeal made me forget my rule. I ate the tomatoes.

 

Cheryl arrived late that night, and we enjoyed our four star accommodations while we could. The next day we had planned to go to Pacaya volcano and climb to see lava. This was supposed to be one of the highlights of spending time in Antigua so we booked our tour for 6am the next day.

 

Unfortunately, by that point my tomatoes had gotten to me. I wasn’t going anywhere at 6am unless it was between my bed and the bathroom. Lucky for me Cheryl and I had been friends forever, and as a fellow medical student things like vomit didn’t make her squeamish. I made her leave at 6am for the tour. There was no way both of us were missing it because I was too sick to move. So she left.

 

It is now 10:30 am and my stomach has settled down quite a bit. And as I type this I realize sometimes no matter how westernized my surroundings may seem, it isn’t a good idea for me to break my own rules. I knew I must have been really adamant about that rule for a reason. Even though now I feel quite comfortable with my bowels, and the pain from last night feels a few days away, I know I won’t be as careless this time. Street food is great, tomatoes and salad are all wonderful. But when you only have a week to enjoy a beautiful country like Guatemala it may be good to stick to your rules. No matter how stereotypical they may seem, you probably made them for a reason.  Maybe this applies not only to travel, but a few other things too.