sick in Ecuador

Hi All,
As you know, any where in the world you can get sick. But here in Ecuador, the people really care. So here the scoop. We went to a place called Otavalo, the largest hub of outdoor market also hoping to get out of the smog in Quito. Ahh, one can only hope. The second day here, Dane started having problems breathing. And Rachelle was still not well. Soooo, on the advise of others, we went to the hospital. The hotel provided us with an interpreter and between my spangesh and latin and her engspan we figured it all out. We were taken in imediately no waiting in any lobby , they checked blood pressure and heart rate etc. The doctor felt that Dane was and is suffering from the altitude, and Rachelle on the other hand had a bit more. For a moment, about an hour we thought she might have apendicitis, but not so. The doctor sent Rob and the interpreter to the pharmacy to pick up intravenous for Rachelle (2 bags) for rehydration for the diarhea and vomiting, that cost a whole $2, then after she was plugged in, the doctor sent them again, this time for a urine sample and blood sample 13 cents, then the lab ran the tests for $2.60 and gave us the results in 20 min. We gave this to the md. and immediately had information, thank god no appendisitis. We then found out it was a urine infection and a gastrointestinal bug. The doctor gave us a perscription for Dane and Rachelle (2 antibiotics) for another $5. Rachelle only needed one bag for rehydration. Then we were kicked out the door with hugs and well wishes. The hotel made sure we got back and checked now and again.
Rob and I found out that the kids were down playing their symptoms a bit and had vomiting games while we went out to get them soup, can you beleive it, this was before we went to the doctor. They said that they were bonding. Well, since visiting the md they are still abit down but we hope that they are getting better we have not heard any syncronized vomiting sound or seen any target practices. Yikes.
Although Otavalo is the center for marketing of textiles and painting and such, apparently are not making the materials much any more. We talking with a local buyer for Germany and he said the changing of the money system from sucres to dollars helped the people greatly. The local indigenous people are now quite wealthy from their weaving and for some of the touristy stuff they buy in peru. You´ll also hear the people selling the sweaters that it is alpaca, but what we found out is they don´t have any alpaca here. therefor not real alpaca sweaters, buyer beware. I found this out after I bought a blanket, but I still love it anyway. Rob says I bought a lying blanket, well he and the kids thinks its funny. I don´t care, its pretty. We bought 3 paintings yesterday that are originals 2 water color and 1 oil, very nice we met the artists. But in the market they have alot of a certain kind of design, basicly 2 styles,the same same thing over and over, I guess there is no such thing as copy right issue. That is kind of yucky.
There are tons of pizza places and internet cafes here and also chinese restuarants.
We moved to a different hotel, the rooms are much much bigger and the people are also nice here.
There seems to be almost no crime here and there are alot of new cars and other sign of affluence, this is not a 3rd world country. I left my umbrella in a resturant this morning and they gave it back to me later on, no kidding.
Maybe we will go to Coatacachit tomorrow depending on the kids. I have the sniffles too, but I am now drinking water with H2O2 in it and it is really helping. That was also recommended. Only a couple of drops in a liter.
Coatacachi has a dormant volcano with an dome in the center so it looks like an island.
Talk with you all later, I hope that you too can laugh in adversity like my kids.