Soccer + Symphony

Oliver spent the last two days puking his guts out {I honestly thought that his organs were going to come out through his esophagus}, and I spent that last two days running from room-to-room emptying barf buckets. And no, he did not eat guinea pig or lamb innards. Thankfully there is a Doctor from Mississippi who is serving a mission with his wife in Riobamba. Elder Roberts called me 5 times a day to walk me through everything. He saved my life {and Oliver's}. After large doses of Pedialyte {essentially Salt Water + Electrolytes}, a blessing from the Stake President and Rolando, a miracle prescription named Ciprofloxacin, and natural yogurt, Oliver finally stopped expelling fluids from his body. Although I have to admit, Oliver is the most pleasant/hilarious/calm sick person on the planet. After vomiting for 20 minutes straight, he came out of the bathroom, said "wow...that was crazy," cracked a joke, and passed out.

Since we had two full days of Oliver puking, the trots, and not getting a wink of sleep...we decided we were going to take a break from being sick {it was about time, because Oliver had already lost 10 pounds}. So last night we took all of the Ascend Staff, the Stake President, and their wives to a soccer game. It was the South American Cup, Riobamba vs. Argentina, and I wish I could somehow recreate the drama and energy that filled the stadium. The cheerleaders doing salsa dances instead of cheers, hearing 20,000 Ecuadorians whistle the same tune at the same time, and watching the little children get stoked about eating Pig Skin and Potatoes. It is truly something that you could only feel in South America. The Holy Ghost is very pleased that I don't know Spanish, because I could tell that the locals were weaving exquisite quilts of curse words throughout the entire game. It was a wonderful experience.

Oliver could not get enough of being outside of the apartment, so after the soccer game we went to the Symphony, in a beautiful cathedral, in downtown Riobamba. It was really pretty and fun {not quite as good as the symphony at home, due to the bad acoustics of the building}. The Conductor was something else, he was so full of energy and passion that I thought for certain that at any moment he would break out into a tumbling pass down the aisle followed by a tour jete. I have never seen a conductor use interpretive dance like that to lead music. After the symphony we went home and crashed.

Currently, I am sitting in the office listening to two men sing "Welcome to the Jungle," by Guns & Roses, in the worst Spanish accents ever...hysterical.