The Drunk at the Dinner Party

I am going to try to contain my diarrhea of the mouth tonight as it is nearly midnight, there are dishes to be done (Rebecca and I both fell asleep around 7 while putting the kids to bed), lots of Tauxemont stuff to be contemplated and a general cleanup of the rest of the place to consider.

Our refrigerator broke this morning. Woke up to a puddle of water on the kitchen floor, pools of water in the ice tray and warm beer in the fridge. The other day on the elevator, I met a man who indicated that he lived in the apartment directly above us (not sure if he was telling me this to be friendly or to subtly ask me to have the kids keep the noise down). Turns out he was being friendly because today, he and his wife agreed to keep our perishables in their refrigerator. Apparently, refrigerator repairs don't happen on weekends.

I want to respond to a comment that was posted regarding indoor vs outdoor pools. Yes, Ecuador is named after the equator. Hard for me to estimate the temperatures we've encountered since I have not seen a thermometer, the news or a newspaper, but my guess is that it has been mid-60's to mid-70's each day. That's a bit cool for outdoor swimming. I understand too that those are standard temperatures for Quito during the year. Even though Quito is essentially on the equator, it is 10,000 feet above sea level. So, the temps might be one reason for the indoor pools. Second, it's rained for at least a short time just about every afternoon we've been here and has been cloudy off and on for extended periods each day. May is supposed to be the rainiest month (according to our guidebook) but (also according to our guidebook), this daily weather pattern is prevalent throughout the year. They just get less rain each day during the non-rainy season. So, that could be reason number two for the indoor pools. Finally, obviously, the sunscreen manufacturers must not have an effectively lobby. If they did, they would "suggest"to the Ecuadorian congress to pass a law to require only outdoor pools, and then clean-up in sales as everyone who wants to go swimming lathers on a bottle for each swim. We would definitely bust our budget if a full-body sunscreen application for the kids was required each time we went swimming. As it is, we have been applying sunscreen before we go out each day and then reapplying several times during the day. And we still getting mildly burnt. I got sunburned on my head through my hat a few days (A sunburnt scalp is about the only downside I can think of to being bald. When I go out now, I wear a bandanna and a hat on my head). So, from my perspective, hip-hip hooray to the indoor pool idea for all these reasons.

Now, on to the significance of the title of this post. No, it was not me.

The story actually begins about 11 a.m. on Friday morning. Maya, Jonah and I were visiting a local pre-school that Rebecca and I might send them too. Jonah had woken up early Friday morning to vomit, but was fine at breakfast and afterwards. Things were going swimmingly at the pre-school visit. The kids were playing and a boy named Martin had taken to Maya. He was doing stupid boy stuff like running into walls, falling down, and blabbering on and on to get her attention. She thought he was hysterical. He was pretty funny. Anyway, after we had been there awhile, Jonah and I were playing with some matchbox cars on one of those rugs that has buildings and roads on it, when, unannounced, he vomits onto the both of us. He did some more of that into a garbage can that I grabbed and then into the toilet bowl. Poor kid. It was the first real vomit of his life and he didn't know what was going on. He cried quite a bit (accompanied by the ubiquitous and irritating "I want Mommy!" phrase so popular with he and Maya) before settling down. I guess the bright side is I now know Jonah looks good in yellow. The school let us borrow a yellow t-shirt for him to wear home. They did not have anything in my size, however.

As you might expect, that ended our pre-school visit. On the taxi ride home, Jonah fell asleep and Maya is looking paler and paler. As soon as we step out of the taxi onto the curb in front of our gated compound, she lets forth with her own jetstream. Poor her. But she was a trooper helping me get Jonah and all our stuff through the gates and doors into our apartment.

I put Jonah to bed, got Maya cleaned up (she had splattered her shoes and pants) and read her a few books until she fell asleep. Then I did laundry and took a nap.

The plan was to meet Rebecca at her boss' that night (Friday) for a dinner party and Rebecca and I thought about calling it off. But, as the time to leave rolls around Maya and Jonah were fine. They had eaten some noodles around 4 and were playing happily. So, we decided the dinner party could be graced by our presence.

Maya vomited in the taxi on the ride out to the place. Fortunately, she felt it coming and I was able to get a plastic bag under it. The taxi driver definitely drove faster after that though. Rebecca and her office had not yet arrived when Maya, Jonah and I got to the party (at this fancy house in the rich part of Quito). I got Maya cleaned up again (poor her, she got her shirt this time and since I am new at this being in charge of the kids thing, I didn't bring her a change of clothes. I had a sweatshirt of Jonah's in the pack that fit her - though, it was more of a three-quarter sleeve sweatshirt on her). When Rebecca comes in, Jonah goes running through the dining room leaps into her arms, and vomits all over the floor (and incidentally, onto his new yellow t-shirt that I had left him in because he looked so good in it). Fortunately, the floor was tile. And, Michelle, Rebecca's boss, had a nephew that lived nearby bring a shirt for Maya, so Jonah could wear his sweatshirt. So, at least both of our children remained fully clothed for the rest of the evening.

Of course, no one else at the party (all of Rebecca's office) has kids. But they all did a good job of ignoring us while we dealt with things and of being understanding. After we got things cleaned up, things were well under way with appetizers and getting the pizzas going (it was a make your own pizza dinner party). Maya, at least, knew her limits, but Jonah did not. He reminds me of me more each day.

He wanted this to eat, that to eat, and although we tried to dissuade him, he managed to get some food out of us. And they weren't putting things like melba toast and tea on the pizzas. When the host began cooking bacon, both Maya and Jonah were on him like white on rice. So, combine greasy bacon with upset stomachs and you get a picture of where this is going.

We all sit down to the dinner table, set with very nice china, start eating, and Jonah, who is sitting on Rebecca's lap, vomits into her dish. Before she had even taken a bite. It didn't take Maya long to follow suit. Though, again, she felt it coming and got to the bathroom. When we were all cleaned up again, Michelle's husband was kind enough to call us a cab and show us the door.

Rebecca and I figured out that the cause of the stomach ailments was the swimming pool we went to on Thursday. Jonah has a tendency to drink the water and Maya must have gotten some down her gullet as well. Last summer, after a swimming pool visit, Jonah had diarrhea and the pediatrician asked if he had been swimming recently. So, that is what we think caused it this time as well. Anyway, Jonah was fine today. Maya had some lingering issues but hopefully she'll bounce back tomorrow.