copyrighted to Aria(crune@coqui.net) 1998 Aria's Rendition to the Traditional Back to School Essay: "How I spent my Summer Vacation" (well a small part of it) by Aria(crune@coqui.net)--who else? During this summer my parents and I took a vacation in Mexico. It was ok, except that we suffered what is lovingly referred to as Montezuma's Revenge, which, to anyone who has gone to Mexico, or knows someone who has, means a fun-filled day or two of diarrhea, vomiting and general queasiness, brought about by a certain type of bacteria found in Mexican water. We arrived a Saturday and it was on Thursday that the 'bug' hit us. In fact, we aren't even sure if it was Montezuma's Revenge, mainly because we didn't drink the water in our ten days there . . . go figure. Anyway, the fact remains that on Thursday, my family and I stayed in the hotel room, while our tour went sightseeing around the Mexican State of Guanajuato. That was no fun at all. The hotel had no air conditioning since it was built on a mountain, and the room had only one window. This window was basically useless, since we couldn't open it or draw open the curtains. To do so was to let all the other tourists see directly into our room as they climbed the stairs to their own rooms (we were located in the first floor, next to the stairs). In other words, the only window in our tiny hotel room had to be kept closed and with the curtains drawn--which gave the room a dark, stuffy feel. I honestly wish I could say that this all faded with the condition my body was in, but truth be told-- kneeling in front of the toilet with your back sticky from the sweat running down it-- is not one of those experiences I'd like to repeat. It was so horrible to be stuck in that cramped hotel room and to be getting up almost every ten minutes to go to the bathroom (which wasn't too big either). At first I felt cold, due to the fever, but then, as it went down, I started sweating, and the room felt like 100 degrees, I felt like I was boiling! Taking baths didn't help too much, cold water stung my feverish skin and hot water was out of the question. Two minutes later after taking the bath, I began to sweat once again. Thank God it was only for a day-- I bet if we had stayed longer the room would have started to stink of sweat, mainly my sweat. . .eww. We were lucky, though, to have the brunt of Montezuma's Revenge on just one day-- and lucky too that it was a day in which we were allowed to stay the entire twenty-four hours in the hotel room. I shudder to think what might have happened if we had to make a one of those day-long bus trips. Somehow, puking my guts out alongside a Mexican road or begging the bus driver to make a rest-room stop every five minutes, isn't that appealing to me. We were sort of recovered by the next day and enjoyed our last four days there. Of course, like always, I had to forget something-- and effectively, the next day as we were arriving in Mexico City at 7:30 p.m., I realized I had left my favorite cassettes back in the wonderful Guanajuato hotel room. Apparently, I had listened to them as my head pounded and my Mom shoved Pepto Bismol chewables down my throat (not a pleasant experience) and forgotten to put them back in my bag. Ah yes, my classic luck . . . or stupidity, you be the judge-- I go either way. Well, it's a relief to be home anyway (even if I did have to buy my favorite cassettes again). The entire trip was a learning experience, but I have to say that, honestly, my most vivid memories are of that fateful day in Guanajuato. Now don't label me as bitter, I'm not (hence the numerous times I've repeated that the trip was ok)-- it wasn't fun to be sick, but Mexico was still interesting, after all, it is a whole different country. Yet, home is home and I couldn't help but smile on the way back. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ End give me feedback now!