You Say Tomato, I Say Tomate

 Our first evening home, I discovered that Jean (pronounced "Gian") doesn't like tomatoes. I asked him to take a taste of the raw sliced tomatoes with salt and pepper and he obligingly did, but politely informed me "No me gusta". The next day I served homemade cream of tomato soup with bean and cheese quesadillas for lunch, and again, he willingly tasted a spoonful, but again, "No me gusta".

Later I was unpacking groceries which included multiple cans of tomatoes. And that is when Jean's sense of humor manifested. "Basta tomates, basta tomates, basta tomates!!" (Enough tomatoes, enough tomatoes, enough tomatoes!!) So Tom immediately started saying in his best Spanish "Tomorrow, tomatoes for breakfast! Tomatoes for lunch! Tomatoes for dinner! Tomato water, tomato milk, tomato showers and tomato swimming pool!" To which Jean replied each time with a huge smile "No, no tomates!" And it has become the running gag all of yesterday and today. If he says "Tengo hambre" (I'm hungry - which he says a LOT), we say "Quieres tomates? (Do you want tomatoes?", which results in a huge grin and a resounding "No, no tomates!" Such fun!

At one point I reminded him, since he'd said he likes pizza, that pizza has tomato sauce on it. I informed him that we were having pizza for dinner at the pool and he wasn't thrilled about that. I don't know if the pizza he had in Colombia didn't have tomato sauce, or more likely - he just didn't realize that it was tomato sauce. When the pizza came, there were even tomatoes pictured on the box! More distress! But when he tried it, mmmmm ....

Funnier yet, later in the evening he was thirsty and asked me what there was to drink. I opened the fridge and said there was water or milk. He spied some small cans of V-8 in the door that I had forgotten were there and asked if he could have one. I said sure, grinning. He opened it up and chugged it. I asked if he liked it (Te gusta?), he said that he did, and when I informed him that it was tomato juice you should have seen his face!

In other news, Zachary returned from Webelos camp today, tired, happy and hoarse from all the yelling they did. He and Jean immediately hit it off. I think Nathan will be happy to be back in his own room tonight. He had generously offered to take Zachary's bunk for the first couple of nights so that Jean would not have to be alone.

Tomorrow is a day Jean has been excitedly awaiting - getting to meet los abuelitos (aka Grandma and Grandpa) who fly in tomorrow morning.

Hasta mañana!