I’ve lived in the United States my entire life and have never left the country except for once. My brother-in-law was selling Mexican imports and asked if I wanted to travel with him to Mexico to buy a load of Mexican products. He had a big truck and we took off one week to travel to Mexico. It was a long trip and he had been there several times. I was young and excited about the trip. On the way to Mexico, he started giving me some pointers on what to do and not do while there. Since we didn’t speak Spanish, I figured communication was going to be a problem. I asked how do we talk to the vendors. He explained that when you meet someone you should say que paso to be friendly which meant how are you doing or what’s happening. Si meant yes and shake your head for no. That seemed simple enough and he had one more very important piece of advice “don’t drink the water” or eat anything while in Mexico. Don’t scratch your nose or eyes! We’ll travel back across the border every time we have to eat. That sure seemed like a lot of trouble but he was emphatic about this. He explained that he had contracted “Montezuma’s Revenge” on his last trip and had lost twenty pounds. Immediately after returning from his last trip he went to the doctor and was sick as a dog expecting to get a shot and being well in a couple of days. After telling the doctor about his Mexican trip, the doctor took his glasses off and replied “you have Montezuma’s Revenge”, a tiny parasite that makes you really sick but doesn’t affect people living in Mexico. There’s nothing I can do for you, son, it must work its way out of your system. Try to stay hydrated and don’t get too far from a bathroom. Almost two weeks and twenty pounds later, he was feeling better and he was determined to avoid this predicament on future trips.