Adjusting to the newness of Spain was a challenge in many different ways. I was immersed in a completely different language and culture. Initially, at work and at home, I struggled to understand Spanish and was unable to articulate myself effectively in both casual and professional conversations.

My AHA moment, or Ajá en español, came in July, about halfway through my program. I sat down to have dinner with my host mom, just the two of us, and just started chatting. I was making jokes, implementing her grammar corrections that she had mentioned throughout the summer, and enjoying myself. We ended up talking for about 2 hours before we had to excuse ourselves to go to sleep. I sat down and reflected on this moment afterward, and couldn’t believe that I was the one who was carrying most of the conversation this time. There were a few awkward pauses when I couldn’t find the right words, and I talked with little fear about the mistakes that I might make. From that point on, communicating in Spanish wasn’t as stressful for me, but more fun and natural. It also helped me to develop my personal connection with my host mom; I even got an invite to her beautiful family home in Ocaña, Spain!

On my last week in Madrid, we had one last family dinner with my host mom and my parents, and my sister! At this dinner, I got the chance to show off my Spanish skills to my family, since before , I was always too scared to speak in Spanish in front of them. That night, I had to step into the role of translator to bridge the conversation between my host mom’s minimal English, her mom’s Spanish, and my family’s lacking Spanglish. It felt like a final test of my Spanish abilities, and I came away feeling validated in my improvement over this summer.

In terms of my Spanish language skills, I got what I came for in this trip. It was not easy or immediate, but making time for conversation at dinners with my host family and letting myself make mistakes at home and at work built up to this “aha” moment for me.