Mi Sobrina Cosmopolita

Victoria, diciembre 2012.
Victoria, diciembre 2012.

Hoy les presento un vídeo de mi sobrina Victoria. Dura quince segundos, pero como a mi siempre me da flojera ver vídeos, se los explico para que ustedes decidan si lo quieren ver o no. Tomé el vídeo en diciembre cuando estábamos juntas muchas de las mujeres de la familia. En el vídeo, Victoria trae un llavero de la Torre Eiffel, y Carol le pregunta,’ ¿Dónde está Paris?’ esperando que la niña apunte al llavero. Pero en vez de enseñarnos la Torre Eiffel, mi sobrina lista nos enseña a hablar francés! Pronuncia ‘Paris’ con un acento perfecto (‘Paguí’). Llevo más de un mes viendo este vídeo todos los días. Me encanta darme cuenta que aun siendo tan pequeña, Victoria entiende tanto. No cabe duda que lo que tiene de petite, lo tiene de culta e inteligente.

Here’s a cute video of my niece Victoria. It’s only fifteen seconds long, but since I hate watching videos, I’ll re-cap it for you. I filmed it in December when a bunch of the wimyn in the family were together, fawning over Veev. In the video, Victoria is holding a  keychain in the shape of the Eiffel Tower. Carol asks, ‘Where’s Paris?’ in hopes that the baby will point at the keychain. But instead of showing us the Eiffel Tower, my smart niece gives us a lesson in pronunciation. She says ‘Paris’ in perfect French! I’ve been watching this video every day for over a month. I am perpetually astounded to see that even though Victoria’s a baby, she understands so much. I can’t wait to see what else she’ll teach us.

Mi Sobrina Cosmopolita

In which I definitively prove that my family is cute and clever

In May after going to Portland, I got to go to Mexico to visit my family. I went for my cousin Nolan’s wedding, which was beautiful and fun, and did I mention they are sooooo in love? And have been since high school? I was super excited for them to get married because a couple of years ago, Devin and I went on a double-date with Nolan and Anakaren. Afterward, I told Devin that I really wanted Anakaren to be my cousin-in-law. And this year Nolan made my wish come true. Such a good cousin, that one.

Whenever I spend time with my family, I get really happy and silly and want to tell everyone how much I love them and why. I could go on and on about the hilarious jokes my cousin Gaby makes or all the vegetarian recipes my aunt Minou teaches me or how when we laugh, the twenty of us sound like a barnyard full of clucking chickens. The problem is that my rambles can’t really communicate how it feels to have a large team of people who have known me my whole life and who love me and inspire me in countless ways. Maybe some day I will figure out how to say it, but for now, I’ll just share this prize-winning essay my cousin Carol wrote in 1995, at age 9.

In case you didn’t catch the fact that I’m from Mexico, please note that Carol wrote this  in her second language at age nine. It’s neat to read this and know that the little girl who wrote that essay grew up to be an English teacher! Carol is also the mom of my niece Victoria, who will certainly grow up to be a polyglot genius.

Oh, and when the author mentions ‘Kristy’ in the above piece, she definitely means me. That’s pretty cool, too.

In which I definitively prove that my family is cute and clever