The next day we met up at Jiao's house. I bounced up and down with excitement as I rang the doorbell.
"You seem happy," Jiao said as she answered the door. "Care to tell me why that is?"
I walked in, put down my backpack and pulled out a CD. "THIS!"
"What is it?"
"Did I ever tell you my great-grandmother was Estefany Aguabella? This is a CD of her greatest hits!"
"Lottie, you forget that people in America aren't familiar with music from Spain."
"Yeah, but a lot of people in Spain know her! She's considered timeless over there!"
"I don't know. Americans have... different tastes, you know? They like songs about methamphetamine and coitus."
"Come on, Jiao, just give it a chance. Her songs have some really cool guitar parts that I bet you'll have fun playing, and the most important thing is to have fun, right?"
That was what Bisabuela (great grandmother) Estefany always said: Divertir es más importante que ganar - having fun is more important than winning.
"Okay, put the CD in."
Jiao was unimpressed by the first five songs, but the sixth song, "Al Lado De Ti", got her strumming an air guitar.
"G-seven... F chord... B... A minor..." she mumbled to herself, while I sang along to the chorus.
"No me asusta nada
Cuando estoy al lado de ti...
Mi llanto se acaba
Cuando estoy al lado de ti...
No hay ningún lugar
Que desearía estar
Más... que... aquí.....
Al lado de ti..."
That's it, we're covering this.
