OMG SO CUTE

I just had a 90-minute talk with 11-year old Alvaro, Ximena's youngest, who is not only adorable, but may be the house's best conversationalist, or at least he was this time. After I picked him up out of his chair and explained I was out of shape, I told him all about aikido and showed him my test video, described last night's incident, he talked about a windshield-smashing road-rage argument he saw at some point, and then we talked about the United States, which he'd like to visit. Things he was startled to learn:

• He asked if "Springfield" really exists, so I explained they chose that name because almost every state has one.
• No, if you're around the imaginary line of the United States and Canada, you might have a hard time telling which side you're on--some towns on either side share a library, for example.
• Texas has almost the area of Chile, and Alaska has twice that.
• Alaska was really cheap.
• Despite having the sports teams he cares about, San Antonio, Cleveland, and Detroit are probably not the most awesome places in the U.S. to visit.

*heart* Kids are awesome, when you don't want to throttle them.