Zaia

On Saturday night in Macao, we decided to see how Gioia fared at a Cirque du Soleil performance. It was only a 90 minute show, so we were hoping she would not get too tired and chatty. We guessed right.

As the lights went down and the music came up, she started dancing in her seat. It was almost more fun to watch her reaction than to watch the show itself. For 50 minutes, she sat at the edge of her seat, eyes fixed to the performers. For the last 40 minutes, she sat back and ate some chicken nuggets, still watching the show.

On the flight back from Taiwan, she kept talking about the "crazy man with the egg" (one of the two main clowns) and the polar bear (also a random part of the show).

So the experiment was a big success. Zaia itself was standard Cirque fare - trapeze artists, jugglers, tumblers and super strong contortionist peeps - but Gioia's reaction made this show really spectacular.