Juana and Lucas

Chapter 1
Things I like are:
Drawing.
Sometimes on paper,
sometimes on other surfaces.
Astroman.
Astroman needs no rockets to fly in space-his inter galactic suit and shiny helmet cover all of him and let him glide from galaxy to galaxy, faster than I can say Jupiter! He knows all the constellations from A to Z and can redirect a comet by simply blowing on it, as if it were a candle flame on a cupcake. No one else can do that.
My favorite food of all foods (more than cheese and chocolate and ice cream, but not all together) is
Brussels sprouts.
In Bogotá, Brussels sprouts are called repollitas.
The world has many cities, but Bogotá is where I am. And where school is . . . and where Mami and my abuelos and Lucas are… and where I play with Eric and Daniel… and where I get into trouble with Juli. Bogotá, Colombia, in South America, is the city that’s closest to my heart.
I love Bogotá. LOVE. IT. And here’s why:
Bogotá has more NEIGHBORHOODS than I can count. There’s a financial district, a flower district, galleries, houses, little coffee shops, bookstores; it just never stops. There are a lot of parks in Bogotá, too!
The CICLOVIA is a never-ending route of bike lanes all across the city. I’m still learning how to ride a bike, so I haven’t been able to go on every bit of bike lane across the city-it would take me ages to do it! But I like the idea of pedaling through town.
During the day, the WEATHER is mild, as if it is eternally springtime. Then the night comes, and the ground turns freezing cold, so everyone always keeps a pair of slippers by their bed.
There are many TREES, mostly old and almost as tall as buildings! In the daytime, they give shade from the incredibly strong sun. At night, when illuminated from below by the streetlights, they make shadows of all shapes and sizes.
In Bogotá, Colombia, everyone speaks ESPAÑOL! There might be a few who speak other languages, but to understand one another, we all mainly speak Spanish. Lucas doesn’t speak Spanish, only because he doesn’t speak at all.
At bedtime, chances are you’ll find me in bed with a book… or dos, or tres! Reading books is one of my most favorite things.
Sometimes, Mami will come into my room and tell me to turn off the light iya mismo! just when the stories I’m reading are absolutely impossible to put down.
Thank goodness my abuelo gave me a flashlight to use in case of an emergency. Having to turn the lights off and stop reading inmediatamente is definitely an emergency. I grab the flashlight, pull the covers up over my head, and go back to reading.
Even more than Astroman, even more than reading, drawing, Brussels sprouts, and Bogotá all together, I love
my furry amigo, Lucas.
He is the smartest and most amazing perro ever born.
I can’t think of a better friend than Lucas. He is my absolutely-no-single-doubt-about-it best amigo. Some say Lucas is neurotic. I do not think so. He is actually quite calm, especially while sleeping.
I love Lucas. LOVE. HIM. And here’s why:
Unlike others, Lucas listens to absolutely everything I have to say, without interrupting-even when the stories get to be a little too long.
He jumps really high. High enough to get cookies off the counter. Plus, he’ll share them with me!
No one is better than Lucas at playing spies. No matter where I hide, he always finds me.
His vision and hearing are so good that when Mami is making her way toward my room, Lucas gives me a little push with his snout, which gives me time to turn off the light. That always saves me from a talk or two about still being awake past bedtime.
Even though cleats will never fit him and gloves are pointless, he’s a phenomenal goalie. He’s learned from watching fútbol matches on TV.
He eats math homework like a pro. The harder the homework, the faster he’ll eat it.
Lucas always walks me to and from the bus stop on school days, which makes the walks a lot better than what they could be.

CHAPTER 2
One day, I walk out with Lucas to wait for the school bus, and the morning is especialmente beautiful. The air feels clean and delicious, and smells like fresh fruit and bread, and a little bit like wet asphalt. I’m carrying my lunch box, which has a drawing of a kitty and a rabbit on it. I love it!
Often, Lucas and I have to run to the bus stop. But because today is the first day of school, we get there a little early. That means that our bus driver, Seño-who is really Señorita Cecila, but Seño is shorter-isn’t mad at me and allows me to sit next to my
friend Juli.
SALIDA DE
Sitting with Juli is always good because we have mucho to talk about. So much that there’s no time to get carsick.
Juli is a very good friend. VERY. GOOD. Here’s what you need to know:
Juli and I have been good friends since we sat together on the school bus for the very first time when we were five years old-and that was a very long time ago!
Sometimes all we have to do is look at each other and we’ll start laughing. Sometimes we laugh until our bellies hurt. Juli has a contagious laugh.
Juli loves candy. I don’t love candy as much as she does, but I do like some from time to time. Juli is such a good friend, she doesn’t have trouble sharing with me.
Juli’s name is Juliana, but I call her Juli because it’s shorter and easier to say.
She has two brothers, one older and one younger. She’s in a brother sandwich! They all live in an apartment with their parents and two dogs.
Juli is a really good swimmer. She swims better than most people I know, and I know a lot of swimmers!
This morning on the bus, Juli pulls the most fantastic pack of delicioso watermelon gum out of her school blazer’s pocket. As soon as we figure out how to open the complicated wrappers we start chewing the neon-pink gum. The whole bus is filled with the smell of fresh sweet water melon. It’s extraordinario!
“Do you know how to blow bubbles out of gum?” I
ask Juli.
“No. I’ve only seen the fifth-graders do it,” she says. So we decide to try right then, and it turns out to be pretty easy! We blow bubbles as big as our cabezas and pop them as loud as we can. It’s great fun.
Too bad Seño doesn’t find this as entertaining as we do. She stops the bus and walks back to our seats. She’s frowning as if a hippo just sat on her toes.
“Juana, to the back where you can sit between Santiago and Felipe,” she says, pointing to two fifth-graders who are never nice to anyone. They’re especially mean to kids younger than them, like me. “Inmediatamente!” This day has clearly taken a turn for the
worse.
Now there are rows and rows between me and Juli. In order to talk to her, I’ll have to stand on my lunch box, then wave to get her attention.
But when I step up onto my lunch box, there’s a loud POP! under my feet, and I fall right back down onto my seat. My kitty and rabbit lunch box has broken, and the yogurt inside of it has explotado. That’s the end of my lunch and my lunch box.
The rest of the ride to school smells a little like milk and a little like strawberries, all because of my yogurt. I feel triste. I really liked my kitty and rabbit lunch box. Felipe and Santiago, as mean as ever, can’t stop laughing at my lunch box tragedia.