Travel Missteps: A Smashing Good Time

Some travelers are against “All-Inclusives” since the best part of going to a foreign country is to experience the local culture first hand and that’s nearly impossible to do behind the secluded walls of the resort. But even in this type of setting, sometimes you are surprised and can experience the local culture in unexpected ways. At least, that is how we now look at my mother’s birthday while staying in an All Inclusive resort in Rivera Maya, Mexico in 2003.

A relaxing beach in Mexico.

It was a relaxing trip. Full of hanging out at the beach, shopping, lots of swimming, and a visit to Tulum and Xel-Ha. But the main reason why were down there right before Christmas was to celebrate my mother’s birthday. My father had planned out her birthday dinner with the hotel to make sure it was spectacular, including her favorite type of cake. The dinner was going great and our waiter was definitely trying to keep everything exciting and being very attentive to us.

And then came out the cake, and the rest of the wait staff. Instead of placing the cake on the table they held it in front of my mother. It seemed a little odd and as we were singing something dawns on me. I turn to my mother and say “Oh my, it’s just like Sister Cities!” She looked confused and I said again “Just like Sister Cities” in horror at the realization on what is about to occur. I still remember her confused look in her eyes as they finished singing Happy Birthday…and then smashed her head into the cake.

Out of context…that seemed like a really shitty thing to do. And my mother was understandably pissed and confused as she wiped off frosting and cake off her face. My father also had a horrified look on his face as the perfectly planned cake he had prepared was now ruined.

What I had realized was something I had experienced during the Sister Cities program. My city had a sister city in Japan as well as one in Mexico. And I had recalled that one of the Mexican exchange students had a birthday while he was visiting and at the end of singing Happy Birthday they had smashed the cake in his face. He said it was a common tradition in Mexico to do this, and wasn’t a mean prank. It was just something that was always done. I quickly explained this to my shocked parents as the wait staff made themselves scarce after figuring out my mother wasn’t aware of that particular tradition. So even in our All Inclusive bubble, the local culture snuck up on my family in a very unexpected way! And while they were upset then, this travel memory we can now laugh about!