When the girls' parents came to Cuba, their mothers met a nice woman, Alice Donaldson, who was a volunteer helping the Cuban refugees, and became fast friends with Safira and Soledad. Of Irish descent, Alice was also Catholic and attended the same church when Mass was in English (Cassandra and Danielle attended Spanish-language Mass with their families.).
Aunt Alice, as the girls called her, was also a regular customer as Cuba Pasado, Danielle's parents' restaurant. She was able to learn a lot about Cuban culture from her friends.
With the parents working long hours, Alice would look after the girls until their parents came to collect them. It was always so much fun with "Aunt Alice", and she was their "unofficial godmother" (the girls both each had a godfather and godmother, but Alice was their 'extra' godmother). They would bake together, sing songs, and the girls would sometimes sing Spanish songs and teach Alice Cuban dances. She made excellent grilled cheese sometimes went to the restaurant with the girls where Safira would feed them.
It was a beautiful restaurant, with beautiful paintings, adorned with indoor plants, red VIP seats, and looking almost like an 18th century-style palace. Danielle's parents weren't working at the restaurant as they had to rest to help their employees cater for a Quincenera. Quinceneras were always the biggest aspect of the restaurant's revenue.
By the time the girls were 9 years old, they'd developed a fabulous taste in music. Both girls were fanatics about the group ABBA, and literally screamed for joy when they saw their Spanish album "Gracias Por La Música" at a music shop in Spain, while they were on vacation in Barcelona.
The girls had some money saved because they were featured in a TV commercial for Emilio and Safira's restaurant, so they didn't hesitate to buy themselves a copy each with their earnings. They both already had all the other ABBA albums up to that point, but this one would no doubt be their favorite seeing as they sang songs in their language. The girls also received copies of ABBA's final two albums from Spain also, which contained Spanish versions of their songs in place of the original English, but the girls loved ABBA so much, they didn't hesitate to secretly purchase the English versions of the songs too!
Cassandra loved all ABBA songs, but there were some that she liked more than others. "Dancing Queen" was of course a classic, as were others "Money Money Money" but there was one song in particular that she loved, the Spanish version of "Andante Andante". She loved the English version too, but the Spanish one was more special to her seeing as it was her first language. The song both relaxed her as well as made her want to dance.
Every Sunday after Mass, Cassandra would sit in her bedroom listening to ABBA songs until it was dinner time. She received ABBA dolls for her 10th birthday. She was so happy, and she regarded them as heirlooms. That's how much she loved ABBA. She would often play with them while listening to ABBA, finishing off with the Spanish version of "Andante Andante".
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Danielle and Cassandra got another break on TV when they were chosen to guest star on an episode of Sesame Street, and sing the alphabet song together.
"Wonderful, great singing!" Said Safira, who also appeared on the show. At this time, the girls had been doing TV commercials since the late 70s, but as they matured, people noticed they not only loved to sing and dance (which was always the case) but had a knack for it. However, not wanting their daughters to be burnt out, they encouraged them to just to modelling for the time being.
By the time they reached their teens, the girl cousins had become quite popular as models, and even modeled for a special Quincenera edition of a Latin American magazine. It was the 80s, probably the best time to be a teenager. As was expected, their Quinceneras were both festive with a large number of guests, mostly friends and family, and of course, Aunt Alice.
