It's official; Arabella has dual-citizenship! We just got her Spanish passport today (her American passport arrived a few weeks ago). What a lucky girl! Now she can travel all over the world (including Cuba :-)) and can live and work anywhere in the European Union or The United States. I'm so jealous. Well, wait! I guess I have the same privileges now, except the Cuba part.I hope she takes advantage of the endless opportunities. I can't even express how much I've learned from living in a foreign country, trying to speak a foreign language. It's been an invaluable experience.
While Arabella will obviously grow up speaking both Spanish and English, I truly hope she learns a third language at some point. How humbling it is to lose your ability to communicate - to try to express yourself using the simplest sentences you can put together, and to know you don't sound nearly as educated as you are. It makes you think twice about how you treat foreigners in your home country. It teaches you patience. It can make you completely uncomfortable and awkward, yet sometimes, if you really work hard, it gives you a feeling of complete satisfaction and accomplishment.
Here is a fun little video I took of me working on my Spanish vowel sounds : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTxudEqUzAg For some reason, Bella thinks it's really funny. I feel better knowing that she thinks it's just as funny when Alex does it! Alex used to give me all kinds of hell because my Spanish vowel sounds were too American-sounding. I hope I'm getting better!
