Mariah, God, and Enrique Iglesias

Last night God was in the house. And so, was Enrique Iglesias.

For my graduation from PLQ, I have to perform some creative piece to showcase my Spanish language skills. I have decided to incorporate the song Cuando Me Enamoro somehow, as it’s a song that has been a big part of my experience at the Ramos house. It’s the theme song for the telenovela I watch every night with my family. The girls of the house are constantly singing it, and it will forever remind me of this experience. Perfect.

I started with an exercise Senor Slain would be proud of, an exercise we spent countless hours perfecting in the Language Lab at NHS. I listened to the song over and over, rewinding each part, writing down what I heard. I got a lot of it, but no matter how many times I listened to each verse, I couldn’t understand it all.

Last night while watching a movie with the whole clan, Lilian asked me how my dictation was going. I told her it was slow moving, and that it would be great if the girls could take a look at my notes and help me with the rest. Denia came into my room, and we started working through it. Yes. I could look it up on the internet, but that would take the fun and mystery out of it. After about an hour, we were stuck, and decided to pick it up after dinner. When I finished eating Denia and Wendy were standing outside my door with their own notebook and pen, ready to get back to it. The three of us sat at my desk, singing the words over and over again, giggling at the sound of our not-so-professional singing voices. Finally at 9:30, Brenda and Lilian came in reminding us it was late and we should get to bed. They suggested I look up the words on the internet, and we admitted defeat. I promised Denia I would share the correct lyrics with her when I returned from class today.

The church around the way, that serenades me to sleep every night with God songs I can’t understand (which I mistakenly thought was a karaoke bar) was celebrating it’s 7^th anniversary last night, and they were jamming. As we finished our dictation, I heard a tune coming from the church, and believe it or not, it was Mariah Carey’s Hero in Spanish. I believe they sang in solidarity with us in my bedroom. Why you ask? Because Enrique also has a song called Hero, and his last name is similar to the Spanish word for church, which is iglesia. It makes perfect sense. God brought Mariah, Enrique, Denia, Wendy, and I together in the name of music.