Universally Speaking

This has been a big week in the piso. First of all, we had the German move in on Tuesday. His name is Manuel and he is really nice, he has only had 2 years of Spanish so we bond over being the non-fluent ones. Secondly, Mila had her birthday on the 31^st, and Gabriel has his birthday today. Mine is next Monday (the 12^th) and Manuel’s is on the 16^th. So we’ve had a lot to celebrate!

Wednesday Mila had her friends over for a pizza party to celebrate her birthday. It was also 5€ pizza night, which worked out nicely. She also had ice cream cake complete with candles. As I sat at the table with her friends and my roommates eating pizza off of plastic plates and drinking coke out of plastic cups it suddenly felt like almost every birthday party that I had ever been to. One of the big differences, however, was when we sang happy birthday to Mila we sang in everyone’s native language – so we all clapped and sang for the Portuguese, German, English, Italian, and of course Spanish versions.

The blonde guy is Manuel, the girl in the black shirt is the Birthday Girl, Mila, and the lady in the pink is my roommate/landlady/resident dictator Christina.

The very darling Mila and I with the flowers that I got for her. Mila is quickly becoming a very close friend of mine. She lectured me the other night about how I speak too much english. She told me that I came here to learn Spanish, and I wouldn't learn anything if I kept using English. So I took her advice to heart and have been making an effort to speak Spanish whenever I can, and I have noticed my improvement. Not only can I understand Spanish better, but I am at the level where I can really talk about my thoughts and opinons and not just basic "how are you/where are you from" conversations. Trust me, this is very exciting!

Gabriel’s party was last night. It was a typical Italian party Mila later told me. If you ever get invited to a party held by Italians be prepared to eat, eat, then eat some more. We had pasta, some sort of “mexican” dish (it wasn’t at all, but they tried), and plenty of finger food. And, of course, enough wine for a small country.

Saturday the Kansas group took a day trip to A Coruña, which is on the coast. There we went to a science museum that had a lot of interactive exhibits. It felt like Science City at Union Station in Kansas City, only it was in Spanish. We also got to see a planetarium show which I assume was also neat, but the night before I got home from my night activities three hours before the bus left for A Coruña (oops), so with my exhaustion combined with the comfortable slightly tilted chairs and the soothing voice of the speaker in the dark it was an instant nap.

This is me, not understanding the science or the Spanish. Ole!

Hannah, learning all about diseases.

Kate, doing an interpetive dance of explosions.


Me, Maria Jove (middle), and Mar (right). Maria Jove is our Islam Culture professor, Mar is our director and if you look closely she looks like my Grandma Alice. (Sometimes when I am feeling particurally homesick I want to ask her for a hug and pretend it is my Grandma.)

After lunch we had some free time and we made our way to the ocean. I’ve only seen the ocean a handful of times in my life, and this was my second time seeing the Atlantic. I thought about the first time I saw the Atlantic; I was with my whole family at Virginia Beach. We rented a house and stayed for a week. One day I was playing in the water with my cousin and sister when I was stung by a jellyfish. I was in a panic because it hurt and I had no idea what to do, except to cry. My Grandpa Jim, who was watching us, came over and rubbed sand on my wound and the singer came out and I survived. Then there I was, ten years later, on the other side of the Atlantic without my Grandpa. I knew there would be more jellyfish in my life, and that there wouldn’t be my Grandpa there with all the solutions. It made me sad, but also made me realize for a moment just how much I’ve really changed – I was here, alone, in a foreign country with a foreign language and have thrived here all on my own. I wish I could describe this feeling a bit better – I feel a bit as if I have betrayed my family and friends by experiencing so much without them but also very proud to know that I can be completely independent.

I have also come to realize, between the birthday parties, classes, and spending time with my friends how universal some things really are. While there are some pronounced differences – for example, in Spain it is not considered rude to tell someone they are getting fat or to inform in detail exactly what you did when you went to the bathroom or to stare at people. However, people here are really, at the core, no different from any person I have met in the United States . They have birthday parties, they gossip about people they think are attractive, their feelings get hurt when they are rejected, they laugh at jokes their friends tell them, they complain about the weather. I feel like I’ve also taught this to a few people as well. Most of Mila’s friends have never met anyone from the States before, and they tell me they are surprised that I am so different from the impression that they had about Americans. I know this sounds really cheesy, but I wish everyone could understand how we really are more similar than we are different.