Sergio the Accent Explorer and Mimsy are back with Part Two of Ava’s family adventure! ✨ The journey takes us from the music halls of Germany to the deserts of Tunisia—uncovering brave, curious ancestors who shaped Ava’s story in surprising ways. And just when you think the adventure is done, a surprising surname twist shows how names can tell stories all on their own.
Sergio the Accent Explorer and Mimsy are back with Part Two of Ava’s family adventure! ✨ The journey takes us from the music halls of Germany to the deserts of Tunisia—uncovering brave, curious ancestors who shaped Ava’s story in surprising ways. And just when you think the adventure is done, a surprising surname twist shows how names can tell stories all on their own.
SERGIO: Hi There! I’m Sergio, The Accent Explorer. And welcome back! This is Part Two of our story about my friend Ava’s amazing ancestors. [whisper] Psst, if you haven’t listened to Part One yet, go back and do that now. It’ll help this episode make a whole lot more sense.
Now, before we get to the story, we have to welcome back a very special friend who I’ve missed sooooooooo much; She’s feathery, she’s fearless, and she’s full of sounds! Mimsy! It’s good to see you, old friend. How was your super-important Mockingbird business?
MIMSY: Delicious! I mean, mysterious!
SERGIO: Haha! Classic Mimsy. You flew back at the perfect time, Mimsy. Ms McLaughlin was just telling us a wonderful story about Ava’s grandmother Antonella Tessitori who was born in Italy. What did we learn about her, Ava?
AVA: We learned that Tessitori means “weaver” in Italian, and that’s someone who makes clothes by weaving threads together.
SERGIO. Exactly! Now, we’re going to learn about Antonella’s mother. Her name was Angela Geiger, and she was born in Germany all the way back in 1901. I wonder what secrets sit behind her surname! Let’s find out, shall we? Ms. McLaughlin, what have you got for us?
[GERMAN MUSIC]
MS MCLAUGHLIN: Since she was a kid, Angela loved music. Not just listening to it... playing it too. She played the piano, the accordian, the saxophone…pretty much any instrument that made that oom-pah sound that you heard in German music back then. But her absolute tip-top, all-time favorite? The one she fell in love with more than any other? Well, that was the violin.
And that made perfect sense… because her surname, Geiger, actually means “violin player” in German. That’s another example of an occupational surname—a name that comes from a job.
Angela’s father gave her a violin for her fifth birthday, and from that day on…she never let it go. It didn’t take long for Angela’s parents to realize that Angela wasn’t just a little bit talented. Oh no. She was super-dooper-out-of-this-world talented. Have you heard of people talking in their sleep? Well, Angela would play the violin in her sleep.
By the time she was eleven, she went from playing small shows in her living room for her parents and her little sister, to performing in front of big crowds in sold out theaters across the country. [Insert SFX playing violin and crowds clapping] And in every show she played, she used the very same violin that her father had given her all those years ago.
When Angela was fifteen, something extraordinary happened. She was accepted into a very special music school (one of the best in the world) where she studied with some of the greatest musicians of her time. She quickly became known as the most gifted student in her class. And Angela didn’t just play music… she started writing it too. New songs every single day!
By the time she was done with school, she was so talented that she got invited to perform in theaters all across Europe. She traveled in the fanciest seats on trains and boats—playing for huge crowds who clapped and cheered when she was done! And believe it or not, that same old violin, the one that her father gave her at age five, was still the only one she ever played.
In France, she played in a grand opera house. In Spain, she performed for a princess. But in Italy, something happened that was very, very special. In the very back row of the theater stood a little girl… about the age Angela had been when she first held her violin. After the show, Angela walked up to her. The little girl’s eyes lit up. She told Angela that she had always wanted to play the violin, but her family couldn’t afford one. And do you know what Angela did? She took her violin (the one that she’d had for almost fourteen years) and gave it to the little girl. Just like that!
The girl gasped, hugged the violin tight, and thanked Angela again and again. Then she ran off into the crowd.
AVA: Wow… she gave away her only violin? That’s amazing!
MS MCLAUGHLIN: It really was, Ava. And not long after that, Angela met a young man named Giovanni Tessitori. He would one day become the father of Antonella Tessitori... your great-grandfather.
AVA: Wait a second… so I’m Italian…AND German?
MS MCLAUGHLIN: That’s right, Ava! The picture of your family is starting to come together. But it doesn’t stop there. Because Angela Geiger’s mother might have been the most incredible of them all. Her name was Amina Al Masri, and she was born in Tunisia, way, way back in 1872.
SERGIO: Ooh, I’ve got a good feeling about this one. You better take a perch, Mimsy. This story is going to be something special. Ms McLaughlin, the stage is yours.
[TUNISIAN MUSIC:]
MS MCLAUGHLIN: Amina was an incredibly curious child. She was always wandering off…not to get lost, but to discover new things and new places. Once, when she was only five years old, Amina ventured so far from home that her parents weren’t able to find her for fourteen hours! But Amina wasn’t scared. She found food, made shelter, and even had fun doing it. She loved the challenge! She lived for the adventure!
Of course, today we’d never want a child to go off alone like that. It’s always best to explore with a grown-up. But back then, things were very different. And even as a little girl, Amina was already showing just how brave and resourceful she could be.
Amina could never sit still. In her diary, she wrote that she was destined to travel. Just like her ancestors before her. You see, her surname “Al Masri” means “The Egyptian” in Arabic. Her family had moved from Egypt to Tunisia before she was even born, and Amina carried that same spark of wonder and discovery that they had.
When she turned seventeen, she made it her mission to find a way to travel all the way from Africa—where she lived—to Europe and to see what new worlds might be waiting. The travel records we found show her journey lasted six whole months, and she made it completely on her own.
First, she sailed by boat through whirring winds and crashing waves. Then, she crossed soaring mountains by train…watching snowy peaks and the greenest fields fly by. And then, she walked. Through scorching heat, pounding rain…and crunchy snow. And she did it all with nothing but the clothes on her back.
During one cold and rainy night in the middle of nowhere, Amina noticed another traveller. A boy. Maybe just a bit older than she was. He was shivering. And clearly very hungry. Amina walked up and tried to speak to him. But he didn’t understand her language. Still that didn’t stop her. She smiled, took his hand, and together they found enough frozen berries to fill their bellies for the night. The two of them traveled side by side for several days, helping each other along the way. And when the boy finally reached the place he’d been searching for…Amina waved goodbye and kept going. She wasn’t ready to stop, she kept on pushing, and pushing, and pushing.
And finally, after one more month of travel, Amina found a home in Germany. It was there that she met a young man named Wilhelm Geiger. The man who would one day become Angela Geiger’s father...and your great, great grandfather.
[CUT MUSIC]
MS MCLAUGHLIN: You see, we just learned about three incredible people in your family …through their unique surnames. That’s the fun of genealogy.
AVA: Wow. I always thought that my love of travel and my curiosity came from not knowing my roots. But It turns out, they came from my ancestors themselves; like Amina Al Masri! And my love of music, and knitting? That totally makes sense now too.I guess it all comes with being a Tessitori and a Geiger! Which I now know I am!
MS MCLAUGHLIN: Exactly. Surnames can be like a doorway, opening up parts of your story you didn’t even know were there.
Now, before we go, I have one more surprise for you, Ava. You remember how you said that you and your parents are the only people with the surname “Neevs”? Well, we discovered a very good reason for that. A long time ago, in the 1940s, your grandfather Artur Neevs moved from another country to the United States. That’s called immigrating—when someone leaves their home country to live in a new one. And when he arrived, something funny happened. His last name got misspelled on his arrival card! That actually happened to a lot of families back then. So the name Neevs; N-E-E-V-S? It was actually an accidental misspelling of…Neves. Just two little letters swapped places!
AVA: Neves?
MS MCLAUGHLIN: That’s right. Neves! As in “seven” spelled backwards. That was your grandfather’s surname at birth. Artur Neves. It’s a fairly common name in Portugal. Do you know what it means?
AVA: No. What does it mean?
MS MCLAUGHLIN: It means “Snow”.
AVA: That must be why I love snow days more than beach days!
MS MCLAUGHLIN: Exactly. You see, surnames are kinda like living stories. They grow and change and adapt to life around them, just like families do. Every time a name gets shortened, switched around, or spelled a little differently, it leaves behind a clue…like a wiggly trail of footprints through history. And if you follow that trail, it can lead you to places and people you never even knew were part of your story. Learning what a name means is like finding a brand new chapter in your family’s adventure … one that was written just for you.
So now that you know your grandfather's original surname, it’s like your family tree just grew a brand new branch.
SERGIO: Wow. How exciting is that, Ava! Not only did you learn about some incredible people in your family, you were also able to understand yourself a little better too. That’s why we should all be a bit curious about all the surnames in our family tree! Because each one tells a small part of the story…that makes you, you. Have a great week, and keep exploring!