Wednesday night was the 47th birthday of Eric and I's good friend here in Spain. We went out to a local bar with the Birthday boy and some other friends to watch the Barcelona vs. Arsenalt soccer game. The group was comprised of:
- 24-year-old German woman
- 30-year-old Spanish man
- Two 40ish-year-old Spanish woman
- Two 45ish-year-old Spanish men
- Two 24-year-old Americans
All different languages, French, English, German, and Spanish, were flying around the table, along with all different kinds of drinks. There were Barcelona soccer supporters and Madrid soccer supporters (if your a Spaniard your rooting for one of these teams).
I think to an outsider this might seem like an extremely strange mix of people, and it seems that the age and cultural differences would make things awkward. But here in Spain, as I have learned, background, and age especially, aren't prerequisites for friendship. Our friends have kids, have all different types of jobs, and backgrounds but for some reason here in Spain it all doesn't matter. Everyone has been so kind and invited us to be their friends, regardless of everything except that they like us for being us: American, young, whatever. It kind of amazes me.
We spent the night drinking fair amounts of cañas (beer), wine, and at the end, champagne to toast our friend's birthday. It was lots of fun and I went home a little tipsy and very satisfied. It's not every night that I have the opportunity to be around such good, kind-hearted people and cultural diversity.
- 24-year-old German woman
- 30-year-old Spanish man
- Two 40ish-year-old Spanish woman
- Two 45ish-year-old Spanish men
- Two 24-year-old Americans
All different languages, French, English, German, and Spanish, were flying around the table, along with all different kinds of drinks. There were Barcelona soccer supporters and Madrid soccer supporters (if your a Spaniard your rooting for one of these teams).
I think to an outsider this might seem like an extremely strange mix of people, and it seems that the age and cultural differences would make things awkward. But here in Spain, as I have learned, background, and age especially, aren't prerequisites for friendship. Our friends have kids, have all different types of jobs, and backgrounds but for some reason here in Spain it all doesn't matter. Everyone has been so kind and invited us to be their friends, regardless of everything except that they like us for being us: American, young, whatever. It kind of amazes me.
We spent the night drinking fair amounts of cañas (beer), wine, and at the end, champagne to toast our friend's birthday. It was lots of fun and I went home a little tipsy and very satisfied. It's not every night that I have the opportunity to be around such good, kind-hearted people and cultural diversity.
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