Going Back to Roatan...Woot!!!

[Bratface]

That's the problem with those third world countries...no health laws. (Like it doesn't happen in the good old USA).

So just what do you eat when you go on vacation, getwet2?

 

[scubanimal]

I'll be there that same week, same location. A bunch of us from San Diego are going. Ah warm water.

 

[getwet2]

That's the problem with those third world countries...no health laws. (Like it doesn't happen in the good old USA).

So just what do you eat when you go on vacation, getwet2?

Pretty much anything I want to. I've eaten at some nice restaurants and later on regretted it, sometimes for days afterward. I've also eaten at some places, like a street vender in Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela for example and never had a problem at all.

You just never know until it's too late! It really comes down to how sanitary the person preparing your food is. This could be something simple like not using the knife that they just cut the raw meat with to cut your freshly cooked piece of meat. Or not putting that hot off the grill soon to be "best tasting steak you ever had" on the same cutting board as what the raw pork was just sitting on before they put it on your dinner plate and bring it out to you. It could be that they just washed your fresh salad under the same tap water that they have been telling you not to drink all week long. Or it could be the all time favorite and most popular one, they were just too lazy to wash their hands properly if at all, after they wiped their butt and now they are going to make you that "Club Sandwich" that you ordered 10 minutes ago, maybe they sneeze or cough on it a little bit too.

Most problems come from the people behind the counter handling the food improperly or their lack of personal hygeine not from you not washing your hands. We always take that hand sanitizer with us when we go away but it's really the last line of defence and not really a sure thing anyway. It's good if you've been walking around shaking people's hands and handling money all day and then decide you're going to eat say a bag of chips for a snack. Or you use a public washroom and they are out of soap or towels to dry your hands or you have to grab the door handle and pull to get out of the washroom. How many people before you didn't wash their hands and had to pull on that same handle, it's good for times like that.

You could drive yourself mental thinking about all the ways food could get contaminated regardless if you are travelling in some exotic destination or eating at your local restaurant so we don't really dwell on it too much because it's always the smallest thing that gets you in the end anyway. We just try to be aware of things, talk to other people about where they have eaten, which is still no guarantee and come prepared with some form of medication just incase.

 

[Bratface]

I guess that's why they make Pepto Bismol.

 

[getwet2]

I guess that's why they make Pepto Bismol.

And Cipro!

 

[DiversMom]

We always stay at places with kitchenettes and do our own cooking. We have only ourselves to blame if we get sick.

Actually, there are health laws regarding food handling and sanitation. We ran a restaurant here in Honduras and we were periodically insopected by the health department here in our town for food handling practices. The impossibility of finding competent hired help that could or would follow instructions is what ultimately forced us to close.

 

[Bratface]

I'm sure that any place with any type of government has their own set of laws including health laws. And everywhere you go there are people who can't or won't follow laws. But if you watch people in public bathrooms, it is appalling how many do not wash their hands at all after using the toilet. Then they touch the very door handle that you've got to use to make your exit.

Sorry to hear you had to close your restaurant, Diver's mom because of other people not following basic health rules.