After finally feeling settled enough in my apartment, in my work, in everything, I decided it was high time to put a twist in our normal weekend plans and have a party at my new Spanish apartment! All of my friends hopped on board the idea immediately (“American party, American party!”), and the date was set for November 10.

Apparently, with the exception of my peña, house parties are not all that common. Qué raro (“How strange”) for a girl who comes from the city of basement shows and house hang-outs. Nonetheless, I set out to the local chino (the Walgreens/Target/Walmart ‘kind-of but not really’ of Spain) to buy hokey decorations with Carlos and Miri for my America-Spain party.

Even more crucial than décor, however, was what American dish I would cook for my friends to feast on. Typical Spanish parties include a potluck-style element, thus I wanted to make something that they had (probably) never had before. I racked my brain, tweeted about it, made a Facebook status about it, and, of course, called my mother. Ultimately, given what I could find in the grocery stories here, I decided on my family’s chili recipe. (While chili con carne is a dish most folks know around these parts, it’s not the good ol’ hearty, American chili we serve up at home.)

The beginnings of the chili in my kitchen.

The day finally was upon us, and I was running around to the rastro (a local outdoors market that happens every Saturday morning/early afternoon) and around Valverde with Miri and Dea. I spent the later part of the afternoon and early evening in the kitchen, alternating between cooking and texting my mother to make sure I was doing everything right. (I’m currently operating without measuring devices of any kind for cooking, and for those of you who know how I like to cook, you can imagine how freaked this makes me.)

Once compiled, I left the chili to simmer while I got ready and waited for Miri and a few other friends to come over and help me put up all the streamers and balloons - oh, and the signs warning people to not hit their heads on the weird overhang in the stairway to my apartment.

By 9:30 p.m. (early in Spanish terms), most everyone had showed up or was about to arrive, and we had quite the spread in front of us. That’s what I love about Spanish “parties”: Everyone brings a dish ‘to pass’ potluck-style, but instead of everyone grabbing a plastic plate and loading it up with a little bit of everything, everyone grabs a fork and digs in. Makes for little mess AND it’s environmentally friendly! (Not for the germ-o-phobes, obviously, but I love the sharing aspect of it all. My friends are the same way at home.) And best of all? Everyone loved my chili! I dished it up and showed them all how to dose out some sour cream and shredded cheese on top, and they devoured it, coming back for seconds and then some. Thank goodness I made a double batch!

When I finally lost the nerves that had built up from having so many people in my apartment and wanting everything to go perfectly, I ended up having an amazing time. (The wine and rum might’ve helped with that, too.) Everyone was chatting away, loudly and animatedly as Spaniards do, enjoying the music and each other’s company. And we ended up snapping a lot of photos, thankfully, so I have documentation of the night I hosted a successful party in mi piso!

Before we headed down to La Estación, all my Spanish friends added to what I call my “inspiration board” on my fridge (little notes some friends of mine gave me over the course of my last month in Milwaukee). Every day I look at my fridge and can’t help but smile. It’s so encouraging to have notes from friends near and far motivating me every day.

My inspiration board, complete with the new notes from my Spanish friends.

I’m so lucky to have such a great group of friends here. I feel like I gush about them frequently, but if you only knew them like I do, you would do the same. They’re so supportive, helping me with any and everything imaginable, while at the same time being a blast to hang out with. They’re funny when I need them to be, serious when I need them to be and all around awesome. I’ll never be able to stop saying how thankful I am for them.

Here’s to hoping the next America-Spain Party Part 2 comes sometime in the very near future!

Group shot featuring some of my incredible amigos, and me.

[Full Disclosure: This post accidentally got deleted (by me), so this is a rewrite. If you viewed the original before my clumsy fingers made it disappear and liked it better, let me know so I have time to put on “The Notebook” and pretend I’m crying at that.)

No matter what your level of a non-native language, there are some things that simply don’t translate. And the only remedy for this is your least favorite answer: time. But as you’re getting situated and feeling more and more comfortable each and every day, you start to realize that there are a few things that every person everywhere can relate to, that every person everywhere does.

Universals. When you’ve lived in the same place for so long, I think it’s easy to forget that universals exist, that there are people all over world who do things that you do. These things create a place where a common bond can be formed, an understanding that exceeds language barriers. As I’ve just crossed barely crossed the threshold of my two month anniversary in Valverde del Camino, I’ve realized that never in my life have I been so in tune to these universals as I am ahora mismo (“right now”).

My universals here? Let me tell you about them.

1. Body Language: Otherwise known as ‘nonverbal behavior,’ body language has been my right-hand man with my friends. Yes, my Spanish speaking abilities are above average, but it still has taken me a bit of time to reignite them and better them (and truthfully, it’s an ongoing process). In the meantime, from day one with my Spanish friends, I learned how crucial it is to hone in on body language. The clues it gives you into not only a person’s present emotions but also their personality in general is astounding. Where words fail, body language rarely, if ever, does.
   And body language is something easy to ignore when you’ve been hanging out with the same group of people for an extended period of time. What may have seemed like a harmless joke actually has put your friend on the defensive without you taking a moment to realize that it’s hit a soft spot. That person you think is shy and unfriendly may just need more time to warm up to you. A look, a posture, a movement, they’re all less trivial than you may think.
2. Facial Expressions and Hand Gestures: Some people are naturally very expressive with both facial expressions and hand gestures when they’re having conversations, but other than tacking that up to a personality trait, you probably don’t think above and beyond that. 
   But particularly when I first arrived here in Spain - and frankly, long before that - I hadn’t been using my Spanish to speak at all. I’d use words here or there in text messages or online, but given the way non-native languages are taught, conversation isn’t stressed nor taught, leaving me with a boatload of anxiety when it came to speaking to someone in Spanish. Stepping off the bus on September 25, I was thrown head first into a world where it’s no numerical struggle to count how many people I know here that can hold conversations in English. When in Rome, right?
   Now, I hardly ever have to ask someone to repeat what they’ve said or explain it to me in a different way, but when I first got here? Oofdah. If it weren’t for my friends facial expressions and hand gestures - and their amplification upon knowing how much they helped me - I would’ve been walking away from many a conversation with a giant question mark over my head. Keep this in mind the next time you’re talking to someone whose native tongue is not English. Whether or not they ever get the chance to tell you, I promise you they’ll be appreciative.
3. Patience and Confidence: Though not normally related, in the context of speaking a foreign language, I think they go hand-in-hand. Patience and confidence are crucial elements to having a successful conversation in another language.
   If you are the one speaking the foreign language, you need to be confident in your ability to try. You absolutely are not expected to speak perfectly, but you have to be willing to put yourself out there and try. It’s noted, trust me. (Remember that crazy thing called body language? Yeah, that.)
   You also have to be patient with yourself. Don’t beat yourself up when you forget a word or a verb tense. Find a way around it. Let’s say you’ve forgotten the word for “ball.” Instead of standing there hopelessly racking your brain, describe it. “It’s round. You use it in sports. It’s something you can play with. It bounces.” Better to have reached an understanding of what word you were looking for through a long-winded explanation than to stand there staring at someone, both of you with blank looks on your faces at a standstill.
   Patience, however, doesn’t apply solely to those trying to speak a foreign language. It applies to native speakers, too. Don’t scrunch up your face when it’s taking someone a long time to complete a sentence. Don’t make a face at a mispronunciation. Maintain your facial expression to be as normal as possible, as if you were speaking with someone who knows your native tongue perfectly. You don’t want your impatience, whether conscious or subconscious (though preferably nonexistent), to show on your face. All that does is make someone more nervous, and the conversation is going to take a nose dive - and fast.
4. Music: When all of the above fall short, there’s always music. Regardless of what language the lyrics to a song are in - or if it even has lyrics at all - music prevails. I was reminded of this last night when my new roommate, Margaret, started naming off music groups, particularly ones that have some connection with Seattle (her hometown) and Massachusetts (where she went to college). Not many words are needed when two (or more) people realize that they like some of the same music. It’s easy to settle into the common knowledge that there is mutual appreciation for something. Songs sound the same no matter whose ears are listening. Lucky for us here, too, that Spanish people like a lot of American music. Listening to music in another language is also a great learning tool! I’ve downloaded a copious amount of Spanish music to help fine-tune my ears.

By no means is this list comprehensive, but my senses have been heightened in a way I never knew was possible, and if I can help other people do more than tread water while vacationing or living in another country that speaks a language foreign to them. Y como he dicho antes (“And I like I’ve said before”), the rest is all up to time.