Day 6- Spanglish

April 4:

After school today, Alex and I met up with our conversation partner Oscar for the first time. Some of our other friends from Oregon and their conversations partners joined us for lunch and the party this afternoon. Our conversation partners brought some of their friends from the university too which was awesome because we got to meet more people and practice more Spanish. They all knew a little bit of English so we would speak to them in Spanish and they would speak to us in English. I was very proud of myself because I had real conversations with native speakers. Of course, several of the topics where things they aren't allowed to teach the vocab for in a textbook. Over the course of the day I got to talk to my conversation partner a lot.

The party we went to was part of the Samana Santa celebration. The party was hosted by the school so I imagined “party” to mean a small gathering of people with teachers chaperoning as everyone played dumb team building games or get to know you games. I was pleasantly surprised. It reminded me a lot of Sunday Funday after recruitment. It was a party near campus at this indoor/outdoor building in a park. Since it was early afternoon, the weather was gorgeous so we spent most of the time chatting outside. They had dancing, live music, and was unlike any university hosted party I’ve ever been to. I even got to have my first calimocho, which is a popular Spanish drink of coke y vino. 

 Natalie and I left the party for a bit since we sacrificed una siesta for una siesta to run errands and eat at home. I bought my hair straightener from a small electronic shop for 15 euro, plus a pink flowey top, and a flower printed scarf from the store Blanco. I felt like I got a mini makeover as I left the tired, lazy traveler look for something a little more fashionable and polished. Natalie and I walked around town all afternoon looking at different clothing stores and shops. I’ve already been thinking ahead as to what kinds of souvenirs I want to bring back and what kinds of things will be representative and meaningful to me in the future. I’m thinking about buying a watch.

Natalie y yo

When I got home for dinner my host mom prepared fried potatoes, seasoned pork, stir fried mushrooms and pan de chocolate for dessert. At about 11 that night I met back up with several of the American students and our conversation partners and their friends to go out on the town. It was nice to have a group of Spaniards with us to show us the ropes and make us feel like we fit in. Plus, we got to practice talking Spanish all night long. They started laughing at me when I would learn new words and try to pronounce them. They told me I sounded Mexican when I pronounce my “j’s” in Spanish. From what I understand, I need to sound more like a cat coughing up a hairball. They said I shouldn’t worry because they’re going to help me. They understood because they have learned the version of English spoken in England, just like how we have learned Mexican Spanish in the States.

During the night we went to a couple different discotecas which was fun for me because I love to dance. They play lots of American music here which our new friends sang along to, but admitted that they don’t actually understand the words. Dancing to Rihana was probably the highlight of my night and I was flattered when one of the guys in our group complemented me on my dancing. He said that American girls are exciting to dance with because it’s so different. He may or may not have said American girls dance better than the Spanish girls. Touché!

Later in the night I was feeling ready to branch out so I created an opportunity to start a conversation with a stranger. Two friends were arguing about something and  I playfully asked them what the problem was.  Worked like a charm. I mostly talked with Jon who is my age studying engineering at the University of Cantabria. He studied abroad last year in Orlando, Florida for 3 months taking English classes. I kept on trying to get him to speak English while I spoke Spanish but he was too embarrassed. I was on a roll from hearing our conversation partners speak English to us as we would respond in Spanish. Tonight made me proud of myself for my bravery and effort to speak my non native language even when I had opportunities to revert back to English.