In Mexico, water can be deadly. Yes, I know, water is a vital fluid to all human beings but in Mexico it can be deadly.
This is why under NO circumstance do you drink tap water (nope, not even if there isn't an Oxxo store in a 10Km radius and you're dehydrating), you never swim in the rivers near the city limits and you always, always, always, ALWAYS wash and disinfect all fruits and veggies before eating. Those "gotitas" that you sprinkle in a bowl of water before plunging your lettuce and letting it sit for 20 mins are not a luxury people, they are a lifejacket.
Ever hear of la Venganza de Moctezuma (Moctezuma's Revenge)?
Moctezuma was the last of the Aztecs emperors before the arrival of the Spaniards. He welcomed them into his palace as his guests and was later beat down and thrown into jail by Hernan Cortez’ men where he died. It is said that whenever a tourist comes to Mexico and gets diarrhea (as sadly is often the case), it’s because Moctezuma is getting his overdue revenge from the white-skinned, blond-haired blue-eyed back-stabbing foreigners. ;)
Well, sorry to nix the cool story but it’s not Moctezuma that gets people sick. It’s the water.
Although it is true that Mexicans do develop certain protecting bacteria that will allow them to eat off the street or without washing their hands and not get sick (something that if a naïve tourist tries to do tempted by those delicious street antojitos stands or juice joints he regrets almost instantly) there is one thing you’ll never see a Mexican do: drink tap water.
That is something that 6 years of living in France has not been able to take away from me. I still cannot drink tap water even though here it has been boiled, filtered, cleaned, chlorided, filtered again and basically is said to be fit for a baby. I’m still the only weirdo in the cafeteria that on a daily basis pays 1€ for a bottle of Evian instead of drinking out of the free tap-water filled jugs that are on all the tables like everyone else does.
So, you see? No matter how integrated you think you are, some habits simply stay with you forever. Or so you think.
I never drink tap water…. But I’ve stopped washing and disinfecting my fruits ‘n veggies.
You see, here you don’t need to disinfect your lettuce. All veggies are rinsed from pesticides and other impurities by the farmers themselves and since we’ve already established that the water here wont kill you, usually the crates of apples and lemons arrived with the fruit almost ready to eat.
Almost.
They still do recommend that you rinse your fruit one last time before eating it. Simply rinse it, no need for plunging them in “gotitas” or white vinegar for 20mins. Just 5 seconds of running cold tap water should do.
And yet….
This lazy Fned, being the integrated expat that she (thinks she) is, has turned her back on all those years of good ol’ Mexican common sense and has taken to eating her 4o’clock daily apple without so much as a quick wipe with a clean cloth.
And now I’ve got Napoleon’s Revenge to show for it, and it’s all my own stupid fault.
I’ve picked up what is commonly called an aphte (pronounced: aFt). I tried looking up the English translation but the only thing that comes up is “mouth ulcer”. I promise you, it sounds yuckier than it really is. Basically, I’ve got a tiny little white zit on my lower lip, you can’t even see it without squinting, but if there was ever a good example of the expression “size doesn’t matter” this is it. The thing stings like freakin’ hell!! It’s been three whole days of intense horrible pain and not even a small sign that it’s getting better.
The pharmacist told me you only get this by eating fruit that hasn’t been properly washed and that it usually takes 1 to 2 weeks to go away!!! She gave me a small flask of a type of alcohol that you apply with a Q-tip and said it would soothe the pain. Perhaps it’s all part of the Napoleon’s Revenge thing and all but the darn medicine stings even MORE than the apthe itself and applying it makes you want to bang your head through the wall (granted, after a few seconds the pain does go away, but that’s only because your lip is too numb to even hurt).
So kids, learn here a valuable lesson from this stupid Fned: WASH ALL YOUR FRUITS ‘N’ VEGGIES NO MATTER WHERE YOU LIVE!!!
Fned.
P.S. Any idea how much it would cost Fed-Ex’ing those blasted “gotitas” to France??
6 comments:
Ouch Fned, sorry to hear you are suffering! Wish I could send you some of the fabulous gotitas (though we've recently changed to a spray called "Fit", you don't need to let it sit for so long).
As someone who doesn't drink water much at all, it's amazing how many "garrafons" we go through here. Mostly for the animals, the cat and dog don't get tap water either so they are spoiled by the Crystal. And soups and coffee, etc., etc., bottled water is king here.
And yes, we do build up some immunity to the "bad bacteria", but I think a lot of us also go the extra step and take acidophilous or eat a lot of yogurt to help the situation. I know we also do the once a year ahem, cleanse of the tracks if you know what I mean.
Feel better mami! (Let me know if you really want some drops or some "Fit", I'll see what I can do for you). Strange side note, I just checked my "Fit" bottle, it's an American product imported here, I learn something new everyday!
sorry for your pain girl. What can I say? Have you tried tequila or mezcal on it?? Those things might work faster than the med the doc gave you... just a thought. Good luck and yes, a quick rinse of fruit and veggies is needed just to get the germs from all the previous handlers' fingers off them. When I don't have anything else, I have used one of those "toallitas" followed by a brisk rub with a clean part of my own apparel.
ouch,yeah, one of the things that felt weird when I was NOB was seeing drinking fountains! wow! free safe drinkable water,what a concept.
That little thing sounds like a canker sore, which is no fun at all.
Take care,
Theresa
Ouch! I understand about getting lax on these things. I do it too. I stop washing the veggies and fruit until we get a reminder. This last time it was just reading about the cantaloupes making people sick up in the US, I started soaking everything again. I don't buy the drops, I just use a cap of chlorine in a sink of water. Did I mention I was a little lax in all this? We don't get actually sick but sometimes get a little "loose". We also take acidophilus and-or eat live yogurt. I'd wonder about those farmers washing everything in the fields? Doesn't Europe get it's fresh fruit from north Africa in the winter? You think they are washing it?
Let me start by saying that hubby and I DO wash all our veggies at home. It's when I'm at work that I become lax about it. I'm just too lazy to stop what I'm doing 5 minutes to go walk a few feet down the hall to the bathroom to rince my afternoon fruit snack. :(
Cancun Canuck: That's sweet of you for offering to send me the gotitas or better yet, the Fit. I better check first if I can't get it here. And anyway, I can always do what Jonna does and soak my veggies in water with cloro. ;)
Minshap: Thanks mom but you do know that Tequila isn't the answer to everything right? Just kidding! LOL
Teresa: ooohhhh! Water fountains!! We got one of those on our floor too. I'm still not 100% comfortable using it to drink but I will get water to boil for my tea from it ;)
Jonna: Gulp! You're right... Come to think about it, I'm NOT sure the farmers DO wash all their produce before selling... I guess I just figured it was the case.... :s Thanks for stoping by!
Fned.
I HATE having to disinfect my produce here. In fact, I didn't actually start doing it until someone told me that even Mexicans always use that stuff. I figured it was just something that tourists had to do. :(
On the other side, both hubby and I think it's totally weird that there aren't any drinking fountains at the gym. I never had to bring water with me to the gym until now! (Of course, I'm getting used to it and there's no way I'm drinking the tap water!)
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