Sabores of Spain: Moving Day (Again)

This past week has been a whirlwind for my stay in Granada. I decided to move pisos, because even though I really liked mine, it was always in the back of my mind that I should be living with Spaniards if I wanted to improve my Spanish. I decided I would only move if I found a piso that I really liked, and if I found someone who would take my place right away. Both of these ended up happening very quickly!

I moved into a two-bedroom piso just five minutes away from where I was living before. Neivar, my piso-mate, is a girl from Cadiz, a coastal city about 3 hours away from Granada. I was definitely worried to move in because you never know what will happen, but so far I am so happy with my decision. My new room gets tons of sunlight, which you never think of as really important until you don’t have it (i.e. in my other piso). Neivar is so friendly, and already she has been teaching me new Spanish expressions and cultural tid-bits. Every minute that we’re speaking reaffirms my decision to live with Spaniards in order to improve my language skills.

Today we were talking about cooking, and she told me I should teach her how to make some typical American dishes. I told her that last weekend I had a huge pancake breakfast in my old piso. She nearly died. I wish I could frame her expression, as she turned to her boyfriend Victor and exclaimed, “OH DIOS MIO! My new Californian housemate knows how to make pancakes!!! HOW LONG HAVE I WANTED TO EAT AN AMERICAN PANCAKE??!!!” She kept asking me, do you seriously know how to make them?? I hardly earn credit for being able to add some milk and eggs to a bowl of flour, but still. Her excitement was simply priceless. Later Victor told me that she was talking on the phone to her mom about how ‘la Californiana’ was going to teach her how to make ‘tortitas Americanas!’

Neivar loves to cook, and tonight she whipped out her personal recipe book and was listing off all the things she loves to make (and that I will surely be trying soon!). I can’t believe my luck, finding a Spanish housemate as passionate about eating as me!! Tonight she invited me to share the meal she was cooking for her and her boyfriend, and we had a little family dinner of Fajitas in front of the television.

As a side note, I think we’re going to get along great because her favorite TV show is Friends. As I have seen each episode at least 4 times, I think this is significant. Plus, when we watch Friends together in Spanish it’s great for practicing my comprehension, since I already know the English version by heart!!