YA ESTAMOS EN FALLAS!

Fallas are here! Fallas are here! Fallas are here! Fallas are here! Fallas are here! Fallas are here!

If you are somewhat familiar with Las Fallas, you are probably like "Um, no, they aren't...it takes place on March 19th, always the day before Father's Day in Spain."

Well, yes, you are right in the fact that the main burnings happen that day.

But today commenced the Fallas season, with several fun happenings.

And if I don't tell you them right now in quick fashion, I will probably never get around to writing this blog and you will forever be in the dark about this wondrous occasion.

Onward!

First, a little background. I have mentioned this Fallas thing for you several times before, even providing links describing Las Fallas. But some of you aren't listening (Read: Eric, my brother).

So, to really really simplify it for you, this is what it is: Las Fallas is a celebration in Valencia (the city, not the province) and ONLY Valencia, where they build giant expensive Fallas (made out of wood and styrofoam and paper mache...that somehow manage to cost several thousand dollars each) just to burn them in various locations around the city. Why? Because. They like spending months making things to burn them, I guess. I don't ask why the Spanish do some of the things they do, like hang cured ham legs in stores. They just do things to be special!

But Las Fallas takes a lot of preparation, and there are a bunch of other things associated with this festival that don't include burning stuff.

If you followed my other study abroad blog, you would know that I visited Valencia during Las Fallas in 2010. It was a frenzy.

But I didn't get to experience what I am experiencing right now, from the POV of a family that is part of a Casal Faller, which is much like a rotary club that you pay membership fees to participate in things throughout the year.

Anywho, today our Casal Faller went to the warehouse where the Falla is being constructed. Marina, Cristina's friend, is constructing a falla infantil that is a carousel, painted with cute little animals that totally resemble the jewelry she makes. Each Casal Faller has a different Falla. There are big ones and small ones (infantiles). And because there are so many Casal Falleres, there are about 300 or MORE of these paper mache structures throughout the city.

We went to the warehouse storing our Falla and Marina's falla.

And you are thinking "paper mache" and "big structures" and most likely thinking of ruffly little parade floats.

No, these are smooth and beautiful and perfect and look like they are made out of clay and sanded down to shiny perfection. NOT what you'd expect people would make just to set on fire.

Anyways, on to the pictures!!! (Click pictures to view full size)



Marina's small falla is a carousel with cute little kids and animals...

A view of some parts of our Falla, including a giant head that is temporarily covered in a tarp.



The theme of our falla is "makeup" and you will see a few women primping in outlines of mirrors, with empty hands (the lipstick and small props will be added later).

I took a pic of the inside/underside of that giant head. Inside you will see stacks and stacks of styrofoam, with a wooden frame and Great Stuff. As you can imagine, I was thinking about the impact on the ozone from burning 300 of these over the course of a week. I don't think anyone else was thinking about that, though.

A lot of Fallas have political jests or vulgar jokes. Our Falla has a naked woman with her butt cheeks being spread by a man standing behind her. What "props" will be inserted in that man's hands? Only time will tell.

Oh, look, a naked nurse (with accurate upper body anatomy!).

Homer Simpson? Now I am really confused about this so-called "theme."

Marionettes and schoolchildren?

I got a close-up shot of this Falla face of a soldier (or American revolution era man?) so you can see that it is way more than paper mache and foam.

After we visited the warehouse, we went to the ayuntamiento, or city hall/main plaza, where it was jam-packed with people. There was the mascleta (If you haven't looked this up on wikipedia yet, get on it! All the info you need is there!). The pretty, colorful background on my blog here isn't for nothing. It is the mascleta, in all its glory. It looks like flags and whatnot, but what it really is is little firecrackers that are set on fire from one end, setting the whole string on fire and coordinating a wonderful, noisy, fiery show to kick off Las Fallas. You can really only see the prettiness from high above if you are in a balcony of the post office or other buildings in the plaza. If you are on the ground, like us, you get to see the smoke and hear the noise that accompanies it. The whole town it seemed gathered on foot to the plaza, for this 5-minute procession. It was a sunny gorgeous day, so much so that it was hard for me to film since there was a glare. I filmed it nonetheless, but I will upload the video sometime this week. We were lucky that the heavy smoke from the firecrackers wafted over to the sun and shaded the city momentarily. No joke, the sunglasses came off after the first minute.

Then, tonight Cristina had her friends from the Casal Faller over (just a group of 10 or 12 of us), including some of the people I met earlier when we went to dinner one night. Laura, Marina, Maria Carmen, Maite, etc were all there. We had pizza bagels (or something very similar) and a bunch of other tapas. I wasn't too hungry from the McDonalds we had at lunch (can I just make a side note about how expensive it is here? I don't eat it ever in the US, but it seems like 4 happy meals, 3 chicken sandwiches and 2 big macs with 4 pops and 4 fries should not cost FIFTY EUROS). Although I saved room for Marina's homemade strawberry ice cream. Oh my, so good.

While eating, the TV was on the Valencian channel (that speaks in Valenciano, not Castellano or Spanish), showing live footage of the big event downtown. They had the main Fallera (seriously, Fallas, Fallera and Casal Faller? We need to find new words to make this less confusing) announcing to the city some stuff in Valencian about Las Fallas, including "Hey guess what chicos, WE'RE GONNA BURN THIS CITY DOWN!" Except not really. But kind of.
Then there was a song, in Valencian. Cristina and all her friends stood up to sing it, like it was some kind of national anthem minus the hand on the heart. Dani danced. He dances to anything that has a tune.


So now, my friends and family, begins the madness of Fallas. And seriously, if you haven't read up on my previous experience at Las Fallas, get on that. If hosing down buildings is a typical behavior to prevent giant burning sculptures from catching nearby apartments on fire doesn't seem like motivation to keep reading, I don't know what does.

Music musings

On my music blog I wrote an entry on some music venting I needed to do regarding music in the US and in Spain.

It's worth a look.

Click here to check it out.

Pey-goo-wahhh!

This song is really really really popular right now in Spain (but it's Portuguese), because apparently a Spanish soccer player used it as his music when he came out on the field or made a goal or something.

I just think it's funny how the singer says the main lyrics so strangely on that verse before the music kicks in. "SE  EU TE PEGUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"  Creeper.

Did I mention there is a dance that goes with the chorus? It's like the new Macarena.

PS: This video has over 500 million views on Youtube.

Pickles wanted.

If you or anyone you know plans to come visit me, please bring sweet pickle chips.

They are soooo good.
And soooo not anywhere to be found.


That is all.

Christmas, New Years, and Reyes Magos (three holidays in one video!)

This is a tad late, since the last of the three was celebrated on January 6th, but here is a video mashup of my holiday experience at home and abroad!

Hey, it could be later. I still have 2009 vaca footage from Seattle that is untouched.


Oh, and the song isn't very holiday-ish. Although it's by a band I heard on Spanish MTV, called Chinese Christmas Cards. So, technically it IS within theme?

All of my dreams!

Last weekend we also had the chance to go to Jose Enrique's parents' house, where the Fallas dresses are stored.

We went so Lucia and Maria could try on their dresses to be sure they fit before Las Fallas (only 5 weeks away!) and make any changes if necessary. 

I have seen pictures of the dresses and know what they look like but OH MY GOD I was so jealous of the little ones. I mean, when I was little and I played with my American Girl doll, I always wanted to wear a dress like Felicity or Samantha. Those pretty old-fashioned gowns. I mean, it is my dream to get dressed up in all that old fashioned stuff. 

When we went to Williamsburg, I wanted to buy my prom dress there. I didn't. 

Then I saw these Fallas dresses, in person. I was like "Oh my...all of my dreams!"

The dresses are two parts. A skirt with a lightweight cotton tank attached to the top, then a woven bodice that ties in the front. 

The dresses weigh a LOT, probably 15 lbs or so. I don't actually have any idea and I am really bad at guessing, but that seems right (?). 

The white tank that's attached to the skirt even has padding in the shoulders just so the straps don't dig in from the weight. 

Here is Maria in the background, cutting the foam on the straps to adjust it, and the back of Lucia's dress.

If you were one of those girls who liked dress up, please tell me you are so jealous right now. THEY GET TO WEAR THESE ALL DAY LONG.

As you can see, Lucia's has a blue bow in the back, and since you can't see Maria's, I will tell you hers is purple.

Another thing you can't see is that the dress doesn't drag on the ground but instead is about four or five inches from the ground. Revealing the feet. What do they wear on the feet?

GORGEOUS MATCHING BROCADE SLIPPERS, THAT IS WHAT.

So. Jealous.

Once Maria put on her slippers, she was trotting around the room with such excitement. I later asked Cristina how the girls deal with wearing those shoes all day long (imagine 9am to midnight walking around downtown!). She was like "Oh, they are SO happy to just be wearing heels and being pretty that they completely ignore any pain, if they have any."

I don't know. Those look pretty blister-inducing.

What do the boys where on this occasion? They were pretty simple clothes compared to the girls. It kind of reminds me of a gypsy costume, actually. They wear white socks (or tights?) and baggy black shorts, and a black vest over a puffy pirate-y shirt. Dani is getting ready to try on his espadrilles (you know those women's shoes that have a platform and tie up the ankle? Those are Spanish, and they are called espadrilles). You can even see a bit of Monica's baby bump.

There was a point where Cristina and Monica said I could dress up with them for Fallas. But lately I haven't heard much about it. They have loads of extra dresses, but they say I am too tall so that too much of my feet will be showing, noticeably so. I don't think so, since they hang high off the ground. But the next worry is shoes. As you could tell, they are pretty matchy, and I have size ten feet. Monica has size 5 or something, and Cristina has size 7. None of their extra shoes would fit me. But again, when this was talked about as an actual this-really-might-happen idea way back a couple months ago, they said I could try extra dresses/shoes of their friend Maria Carmen, who is tall like me. But they haven't mentioned it since.


All I know is that all of my dreams would come true if I could dress up like that for a day. Well, at least one.

Grillin' in the park

This past Saturday was the "Valentine's Day" dance for the kids at their Falla. The theme was 50s dress up, like the movie Grease. They also had an American-style lunch/snack, with cheeseburgers and shoestring potato chips. There were extras on the table and I was practically drooling I wanted one so badly. But I resisted.

Here is a group photo of all the kids in the falla. Lucia, Dani, Maria and Lucas are front and center.

The kids didn't have very "50s"-ish clothes, but we tried our best to dress them up.

Then, on Sunday, in the plaza near Pichon's parent's house, there was some kind of festival where we brought a grill and made a fire on the ground and cooked food. There were a bunch of other people around making little fires and grilling sausages and snacks. It was more of an "almuerzo" since it was around 10am that we were nibbling on chorizo and fried tomato bocadillos.

There were a bunch of little tents selling stuff, like the previous weekend with the paella. Of course, being a plaza in Spain, there was a giant clocktower that would chime a LOT. The kids were especially mesmerized.

Staring at the clock...

Maria and Lucia also enjoyed sticking their hands in these giant head masks (yes, people plop those on their heads...and see through the mouths). I took a picture, and Lucia made a silly face.

It was fun. And my coat didn't reek as much as it did from the paella festival, where it smelled like I sat inside of a barbecue overnight or something.

Why? Why must you rub this in my face?

A couple weekends ago, we were going to eat lunch at Foster's Hollywood.

Foster's Hollywood is a chain restaurant in Spain with American style food. Burgers. Ribs. Fries.

Burgers here are apparently so uncommon (I didn't think they were that rare, but here you go) that my coworkers were talking about how crazy it is that they ask you so many questions about your burger at Fosters. "How do you want it cooked? Rare? Medium Rare?" "Lettuce Tomato and Onion?" "Cheese?" etc. I was like "What do they ask you at the other burger places?" And they were like "What other burger places? McDonalds?"

I was really really really excited about going there for lunch. All day, I was thinking "Should I order a big juicy burger? Or smoked ribs? Or other items with BBQ sauce? Or other forms of red meat?"

Then Pichon and his dad were chopping firewood for a really long time, leading to us leaving the house later, and therefore arriving during prime lunch rush. There were long lines and Cristina decided we'd eat at McDonalds.

It wasn't too bad. I got a McWrap, which is a breaded chicken breast in a tortilla with lettuce and tomato.

Side note: They have a McJamon, which is like a big mac with Spanish jamon on it. It makes me laugh.

And for dessert, there was a fancy little McCafe, and I had a macaroon and a lemon cupcake. Fancy!

I swear, I have eaten more McDonalds in the past two months here than I have in the past 5 YEARS in the US. Which isn't a lot. Three isn't a lot.



One day, I have hopes that we will return to Fosters and I will get that meal.


As for now, these targeted ads on my web browser taunt me. They know I want that Fosters. And they are gonna wave it in my face.

I am surprised it took Gin so long to discover this.

Yesterday I went into the kitchen around 9:30am to grab breakfast.

Lucas was up, playing with Play-dough on the kitchen table. The rest of the family was upstairs getting ready for the day.

I walk into the kitchen and see the floor soaked with water, and I wonder who spilled and/or why someone would leave the floor like that.

Then I see the plastic fish tank on its side, the source of all the water. 

Then I see Gin.

And then I see Gin's paw, batting at the non-flopping goldfish on the wet floor.

I scream "GINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN" then grab the fish with one hand and toss it in the plastic tank held by the other, then rush to the faucet and start filling it with water. I set it on the table and stare at it, hoping this will be like when Mario in SuperMario64 rushes up to the surface from snorkeling and regains all his power. 

Don't let that pie chart get to the red zone!

As this worry occupies the back of my mind, I run over to Gin, who is wondering where his snack is, and smack him on the side as I yell "MUY MAL!!!!!!"

Pichon rushes in, and he is like "What is going on/who spilled?" I explain what happened and this launches Pichon into a vengeful fury against Gin. He slaps Gin and Gin runs out of the room and Pichon chases him downstairs into the laundry room where the cat sleeps and slams the door, locking Gin inside.

As you may know, Pichon hates this cat.

Lucas, in the mean time, is pushing Play-dough through the dough extractor, making Play-dough spaghetti. "What happened?" I explain what happened.

Now Pichon is furiously mopping up the water mess (not a lot, about a half gallon or liter of water, but pretty much everywhere, since it fell from the counter onto the floor, about a 3.5 foot drop) and he tells me to not worry about it and just get my breakfast. 

I sit next to Lucas, who is now punching out dog bone-shaped pieces of Play-dough. "But what happened with Gin?" I am like "Lucas, I just told you."

Now the counter is all wet and we realize the plastic fish tank is cracked and slowly leaking out water. Pichon puts the fish in a wine decanter, claiming Gin can't tip it over nor reach inside.

This does seem pretty cat-proof, actually.

The fish is not floating on the top, but he sure isn't swimming around happily at this point. I mean, he just had a earthquake in the only 5x5x5inch world he has ever known as home. He then was deprived of his natural environment, water, while being smacked by a paw of a furry creature approximately 100 times his size.

That is TRAUMATIZING.

By this time, Cristina is in the kitchen asking what happened, and we explain and she shrugs it off, saying "It's a cat. That's a fish. Cats are genetically prone to attack/want fish." Meanwhile, Pichon is adding this to his long list of reasons why he hates having Gin around (other things on this list include "he smells," "he scratches our leather couch," "he jumps on the dinner table while we eat," etc).

I told Cristina how great it is that Gin just got his claws removed, because he was only merely batting at the fish where if this happened a week ago, he would've stabbed a claw right through the fish's eye and probably eaten him.

This morning I found Gin near where the fish tank used to be, but the new decanter-tank wasn't there.

Now the new tank is back where the old tank used to be, and Cristina found him with his head in the top, as far as it could go, watching the fish.

High quality artist's rendering.

The fish is now happily swimming in his new home. They do say fish have horrible memories. I can only imagine this fish having faint traumatic dreams of what happened to him yesterday. 

I also want to know how long it will be before Gin becomes the decanter-vase version of this cat:

You should see the toast! I couldn't even get it through the door!

GUESS. WHAT. IS. ON. SPANISH. TV. TONIGHT.

One of my favorite movies of all time....

UNCLE BUCK! 

or, in Spanish, "Solos con Nuestro Tio" (Alone with our Uncle)

I really, really, really, really REALLY hope to see this tonight. It would be beyond amazing.
I would love to see Cristina's reaction to the giant pancakes.

In case you wanted a taste...

Feliz Cumpleaños a Grandpa!

Today is my Grandpa's birthday, so I made this little video for him.

Lucia and Lucas helped me with backup.

Cookie Girl

Today, at Lucia's school: I saw a 5 year old girl eating a sleeve of cookies, and as she raised one up to her mouth, a hoola hoop (whirling around a girl swaying her hips) smacked it outta her hands and it flew across the playground. Didn't even phase Cookie Girl. She just reached back into the sleeve for the next one, as if nothing even happened.

USA is not "Dreamland"

It’s difficult not to think of this as a missed opportunity. Shows like The Simpsons, pieces of pop art that explicate the ironies of North American life, play an important role in bridging cultural confusion. “When people from this Third World see that the American Dream is not perfect,” says Hosny, “that it is full of flaws, it can give to them some hope, and says that if you want to dream, dream here! And that over there, in Dreamland, they live in the same world of mistakes and flaws. I’m sick of how people think that going to the States means going to heaven. I understand that it still may be good to them, but it’s important, vital, for them to see the cracks in the façade.”

This comes from an article about how the television show The Simpsons failed in the Arabic world due to cultural differences. I really liked the paragraph above because I think it is something to consider when trying to analyze another culture.Looking at a culture through your culture's eyes can often be the easiest, but not the best way to analyze.

Not to say I am perfect. About 90% of what I see and judge in my head is from my own cultural experiences that I bring to the table. But even so, it is smart to point out what is going on when I do this to better understand why I might get so frustrated or misunderstood. You can read the full article here.

Maybe a fashion timeline would help?

Lucia has a Valentine's Day school dance coming up, and Cristina is supposed to dress her in 70s clothes.

She told me "I have no idea what to dress her in! They told us to watch the movie Grease for ideas!"

I paused. The movie was made in the 70s, but it sure doesn't take place then. It takes place in the 50s.

I explained this to Cristina and she was like "I don't know what to dress her in, either way!"

So do they want 50s clothes then? Why would they say 70s? I told her disco.style clothes or Brady Bunch clothes were 70s style.

I want to attribute the school's confusion about this to the fact that Spain was a bit behind in this time period due to their isolation and Franco's rule. When people here watch Mad Men, they are like "PEOPLE HAD WASHING MACHINES IN THE SIXTIES?!" as if you were saying the ancient Egyptians used iPhones. For them, home appliances like washers, dryers, dishwashers, refrigerators and freezers were definitely not household items until a couple decades later. Many homes didn't even have heat installed when they were built until the 80s.

I'd hate to have Lucia show up in a cashmere cardigan and poodle skirt while everyone else is wearing paisley and bell bottoms. But then again, I would have to ask those teachers, "What version of Grease were YOU watching!?"

Four eyes

There was a mention of this LOOKMATIC eyeglasses site in Allure magazine, and I kind of need new eyeglasses. My contacts are up to date but the glasses I own have 5 or 6 year old lenses, and therefore give me a headache if I wear them too long.

So I took them up on this offer for super cheap glasses.

Pros:
They are only $80.
They come with a case.
They have cool styles.
They have tint-in-the-sun lenses.
They look like Ray Bans.
They are only $80.
They are NOT the price of Ray Bans.
Free shipping!
Free returns/replacements!
THEY ARE ONLY $80!!!

Seriously? This is without insurance, too!

When I used to go to the eye doctor, I would get new frames for like $200.

Frames AND lenses for $80?! Done and done.



I took lots of pics on my computer, naturally. I really like my "surprised" look the best.

Of course, I took advantage of the free GIF machine...



How to make a gif

Reyes Magos Parade

Although it's been quite some time since El Dia de los Reyes Magos (Jan 6th), here is a short video of the Reyes Magos parade (it's very small scale because it's for a small neighborhood of the city and therefore less crowded and enjoyable). It took place the day before, on Jan. 5th.

Paella, paella, and more paella

Today we went to Pichon's parents' house for lunch, but since they weren't home right away, we walked over to the big street festival they were having in the neighborhood.

They had tents selling various foods, crafts, souvenirs, and even a pop-up teteria. 


However, we only stopped by to visit with some of Cristina's friends (from the Falla, like Marina and Maite). Since Cristina and Pichon were busy chatting, I wandered off by myself to check out the stands.

I didn't buy anything, but they had a stand with various fresh quiche, a stand with jars of fresh honey (practically frozen in this weather), pastries, belts, jewelry, crafts, etc.

Oh, and did I mention the paella? There were small groups of people each cooking their own individual paellas over a wooden fire on the ground. The air smelled of woody smoke. The warmth of standing near the cooking paellas was much appreciated, since it was pretty cold outside today.

And when I said there were lots of paellas, I mean lots. Like four areas of 20 paellas EACH, lots.


Here are some photos Cristina took for me with her iPhone, since I didn't have my camera with me.
(click photos to enlarge)

You can see at least six paellas in this photo...

These proud paella makers saw Cristina taking pics and said they needed to be included. Then they asked where the photo was going. "Don't worry, all the way to the United States." "Oh, good."

Munera Home Tour

In my previous post I talked about our trip to Munera last weekend.

Here is a short video tour with voiceover showing the place where we stayed.

Weekend in Munera and the debut of Lucas the horsewhisperer

Last weekend we went to Munera (Pichon's family's pueblo, or village).

It's located in the Autonomous Community of Castilla de la Mancha, which is famously known for Don Quixote.
Don Quixote is a novel about a man who thinks he is a knight but really he's just a little crazy. It's a famous literary work and therefore there were symbols of Don Quixote everywhere we went...

(Click to enlarge)

Here I am with Lucas and Lucia, next to a statue of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, in front of the famous windmill (that Don Quixote famously tries to fight thinking they are giants). 

Here, I tell you all about the weekend, including some footage of our adventure...

Do you believe in magic?

Yesterday Cristina bought one of those eggs with a toy in it from one of those giant gumball-type machines.

The egg contained a tiny magic trick.

The trick was that you slide a coin in through the side of this thin little plastic box; then you take this key and you can put it all the way through the box (seemingly through the solid metal coin), but when you remove the coin it doesn't have a hole in it! MAGIC!

So Cristina read the instructions, then did the trick for the kids, saying "Abracadabra" before sticking the key in the box. After the kids were properly amazed, she taught them how to do it.

Lucas was more amused than Lucia and ended up doing the trick over an over for about ten minutes. As he would stick the key in, he would say "ABRE CABRA!" instead of the magic word, which was hilarious.

No, not just because he couldn't say the word correctly, but because what he was saying are real words in Spanish, which mean "Open up, goat!"

Harry Potter

Yesterday, on El Hormiguero (a late night variety/talk/comedy show, like Conan), they announced guests they will have next week.

One of them was "Harry Potter."

They showed a picture of Daniel Radcliffe, but only said "Harry Potter."

I hope they refer to the actor by his real name when he comes on the show. Talk about being pigeon-holed.

Las caras que dicen mentiras

Today, while Cristina was driving us (Lucas and me) downtown, she told me that Lucas' teacher told her that Lucas was talking about "Las caras que dicen mentiras," or "The faces that tell lies."

He told his teacher today how there are faces in his bedroom that lie to him. His teacher was understandably freaked out enough to run to the next room and ask another teacher what she thought he meant. His teacher returned to find Lucas telling all the children in their class about these faces that talk to him and tell him lies (but he never mentioned what, exactly, those lies were).

I was kinda freaked out, but shared with Cristina my "pangbite" story, about how when I was little I would hear something and tell my parents that it was "pangbite" (which, of course, is not a real word or thing). To this day, they never really figured out to what I was referring, but my mom thinks it was the sound the swing made when it squeaked in the wind.

It's just one of those freaky children things, you know?

Cristina looked in the rearview mirror back at Lucas and told him that he would have to show her these "faces" in his room when they got home.

Later, she mentioned it again, and Lucas wanted to show Lucia the faces, so Cristina was quietly urging her to go upstairs because we were all really curious. Lucia came back downstairs five minutes later with a confused facial expression saying "It is nothing."

Cristina then went upstairs. She came back down and said he opened his closet and pointed to the ceiling and said "Do you see the faces? They lie to me!" And held his hands out wide, making peace signs (Nixon style). Cristina was really confused and was like "What faces? Where? How big? This big?" And she made a CD-sized circle with her hands. He was like "Yes, they are that big, but they get small," as he squeezed his hands from a big circle to a little one the size of a quarter.

Cristina thinks he had some kind of dream and thinks that whatever happened in that dream happened in real life, including whatever faces talked to him and lied.

All I know is that when I someday write a Spanish horror movie, I have a title. Because we all know this type of thing is exactly how horror movies begin...

Gooooood Night.

Lucia and Lucas often like to wish me "Good Night" (in English).

Lucas told me "good night" several times, whispering it (because he was shy) as he was heading towards the stairs with Cristina.

Then he saw Gin, the cat, and said "Good night, Gin!"

Then he got to the first step of the stairs and stopped in his tracks before turning to Gin and saying  "Buenas noches, Gin." And then explained that Gin doesn't know English.

Random Moment.

Right now, Lucia is dancing in the middle of the living room to "Our Song" by Elton John.