Luis was from Barcelona, I was from Burbank, California

Luis was from Barcelona, Spain; I was from Burbank, California, USA. We met as foreign art students attending L’ Academie de la Grande Chaumier in Paris, France. Luis spoke Spanish and French. I spoke English and French. We decided to each learn our third language. He would teach me Spanish, I would teach him English.

Before giving Luis the French translation I taught him his first English sentence. It was, “I am a queen and you are my slave.” We laughed when he learned its meaning.

After a few Spanish lessons, myself and two other American girls decided to visit Barcelona. In a restaurant for breakfast we looked aghast at the menu in Spanish. Bravely I said, “I know a little Spanish.” Seeing gato on the menu I told the other girls, “Gato is Spanish for eggs. Eggs should be safe.” We ordered gato.

When our meal arrived I took one look and groaned. “Oh no! Now I remember, ‘gato’ isn’t Spanish for eggs; ‘gato’ is Spanish for cat.”

We ate the bread and drank the coffee. Luis had the last laugh.