Una Barbaridad

Recently, Brad and I joined some archive peeps for tapas. The majority of the crowd were native Spanish speakers, and the majority typically decides the language everyone will be using at the gathering. I enjoyed catching up with Consoli, a sweet girl from the Basque country who just got back from 3 months in Cuba. Then, I talked with Magdalena for a bit – she’s a nut. At the end of the night, Magdalena told me my Spanish had grown una barbaridad or “a barbarity.” I’d never heard that wonderfully descriptive word before, but I assumed (correctly) that it was a compliment.

Although my Spanish still needs LOTS of work, I can converse for hours in Spanish now. The conversation is stilted and, at times, frustrating for me and whoever is listening, but I can even be funny in my more inspired moments. Being able to converse in Spanish was my main goal for this year abroad. It’s unbelievably rewarding.

Yesterday, we came full circle, so to speak, by having a long lunch with the Camprubis at their beautiful home. When we first arrived to Sevilla 8 months ago, we stayed with the Camprubis; and their son/our friend, Lino, helped us find our apartment, set up bank accounts, etc. It was delightful to see them again – this time, being able to speak Spanish. Now, both Brad and I also know many expressions and terms that are unique to Spain or unique to Sevilla. For lunch, Carmen made a huge pan of delicious arroz negro: rice and seafood, flavored (and colored) with black squid ink. For dessert, we all tried nisperos, a sweet fruit that was growing on one of the trees in their garden.