El mundo de un niño

I can remember being a kid and the world being so big. What we talked about in class on Wednesday fits into this theory I've had since high school. There is this group of activities that sound like a great idea every two or three years to me (the zoo, the museum, and the Renaissance fair), but about 15 minutes into them, you realize that over the past three years, you've built up memories and great experiences from every other time you've been there, and they suddenly aren't as exciting. What is there to do at the Renaissance fair that doesn't cost any money? Why aren't the animals MOVING!?! And those questions like "Where does electricity come from?" or "What happened to the dinosaurs?" that are answered with the push of a button or the lifting of a tab aren't so exciting when you're in college. But I fall for it every time... I'll go back in three years, with the expectations of a six year-old again.

This is exactly what Millás uses in El mundo... everything is bigger and better as a child. My grandma told me once that your life is like a pie, and every year takes up an equal part. When you're six, all of your experiences are 1/6 of what you've seen, heard, or did. When you're 50, they account for 1/50 of your life. The pieces keep getting smaller. This is why, she says, that years seem shorter and shorter the older you get. Remember how long a 10-minute time out seemed when you were five?! But, as you get older, you value your experiences just as much, if not more, than when you were young. Maybe that's why we keep going back to the Renaissance fair... it takes us back to a time (our childhood, not the Middle Ages) where an 8 dollar turkey leg was the best thing in el mundo.