Tres metros sobre el cielo

Based on the title of this post, I'll bet you were thinking you accidentally clicked on a link to a Spanish speaking blog.  ¿Es correcto? Relax!  You've come to the right place.  Sadly, my Spanish only gets me as far as what my brain remembers from middle school Spanish, with grumpy Senora Garcia.  High school is all a blur.  So basically, I can call someone "an idiota!", admire someone's "pantalones", or introduce myself, "Me llamo Catalina!"  Beyond that, I'm screwed.  My limitations became especially apparent the other day, when 15 (yes 15), Spanish speaking men wanted to hop in my car, thinking that I was looking for hired help.  It was raining that day, so I'm guessing construction work was hard to come by. In reality, I had pulled over in the Home Depot parking lot because I was hopelessly lost on a quest to find our new dentist's office.  I sweetly tried to explain that I was going to the dentist, "Trust me! You really don't want to come!" but it was lost in translation.  How I envy those who are bilingual (my husband, for one).  I wish that I had pushed harder for him to speak Macedonian to our children after they were born.  

For now, I shall content myself with watching foreign movies from time to time.  It is this stay at home mother's best effort at experiencing "culture" on a dime.  This weekend, I was desperately flipping through channels (there isn't much I haven't seen lately) to no avail, when I finally settled on a Spanish film, "Tres Metros Sobre El Cielo".  I am a sucker for a good love story, and it's so rare to find one on our five hundred channels.  One look at the description (bad boy meets good girl and they fall in love cliche) and I was hooked!  Yes, I am that easy.  The movie was filmed in Barcelona, Spain and stars two young Spanish actors, Mario Casas and Maria Valverde, who do an exceptional job with the stereotypical teenage drama they were asked to portray.  Mario plays "H", a motor cycle riding, drag racing, angry at the world, teenage a-hole who is just looking for trouble.  Maria (his real-life love interest), plays sweet Babi, a daddy's girl, who discovers how much fun it can be to break the rules every once in awhile after meeting H, a mother's nightmare.

Now, I know...I know... that I should be horrified by this story, trembling at the thought of a guy like "H" strolling into my daughters' lives one day.  Just the idea of Lulu or Savannah (let's be honest, Lulu) riding 200 miles an hour on the back of a crotch rocket with some beefcake and I begin to mutter things like, "Please, God, no!" But, in the same breath, I have to confess...I am remembering my own delicious, teen drama, and the bad boy who starred in it.  You see, this movie, up until the last terrible 15 minutes, was my life.  

And the drag racing, angry at the world, teenage a-hole?? Well, he currently resides on my living room sofa at the end of every day. He is not so bad anymore, and really quite lovely.  He doesn't engage in fistfights in parking lots to defend my "honor"anymore, but I'd still never take him to a high school reunion (too risky!) He traded in his cherry red Trans Am for a Lexus SUV with two car seats in the back seat, along with a collection of coloring books and gold fish remnants.  And the "H" stands for Hubby these days. 

Hubby walked in to the bedroom Saturday night, where I was completely absorbed in this Spanish love story, and looked at me quizzically.  

Him: "Whatcha doing?" 

Me: "Watching this wonderful movie!!" 

Him: "You do realize that you don't speak Spanish."

Me: "Yes! But some things transcend language barriers."

Him: "Wow...you're pretty bored these days, huh?"

Me: "Stop talking!  You should really watch this!"

Needless to say, he did not.  When the movie had ended, I headed for the living room sofa and ruffled his hair, lovingly.  I kissed the top of his head several times.

Him: "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Me: "I'm happy."

Him: "About what?"

Me: "That we were so crazy...crazy enough to stay together when statistically we had no chance at all."

Him: "Okay! Love you."

You see that's the great thing about loving one person for so long.  You have the opportunity to fall in love all over again, as often as you like! The fluttering you still feel in your stomach after sixteen years, makes all of the hardship you've survived, totally worth it.   Do I wish for my girls to have the same experience as we did?  No, and Hubby would agree.  The journey to the alter is much less complicated when you are not an adolescent.  We want them to be mature, knowledgeable women, who are comfortable in their own skin when they fall in love.  But, it was our path...our journey...and I would not trade a single second of it. Besides becoming parents, this love is the single, greatest accomplishment of our lives.  

Are you ready for the best news EVER? If you too are a total cheeseball, who goes nuts for a good love story, you can find "Tres Metros" on HBO on Demand.  If you do not have HBO, go to someone's house who does and harass them until they agree to record it for you.  It gets even better.  There is a sequel, ladies!  The "H" and Babi drama continues in the film, "Tengo Ganas De Ti"...and in like, two years, it may finally be available to watch with English subtitles! Calm down...calm down.  

Have you seen any good movies lately? Please share!