Hi Everyone!  I’m back with another edition of ‘So You’re Dating a Spaniard’ and I’m so excited to share this one with all of you!  Taylor answered my questions about her relationship with Adrián and actually had me LOLing towards the bottom when she talks about some miscommunications and had me shaking my head in agreement when she talks about visa problems!  I hope you enjoy getting a glimpse into her American-Spanish relationship!  If you want to follow Taylor on Instagram and see more of her life with Adrián, she can be followed at ta_yl_ro.  

• Please introduce yourself.  What’s your name? Where are you from?  How old are you? How long have you been living in Spain (if you live in Spain)?  What do you do? Where do you live? What are your hobbies?

I’m Taylor from Grand Rapids, Michigan, the second largest city in Michigan after Detroit just 30 minutes from Lake Michigan–a really great place to call home. I am 25 years old. I’ve been living off and on in Spain since 2015. I, like many Americans here, am an English teacher. I teach Monday through Thursday and travel most weekends, fortunately. I currently live in Madrid but will be moving to Valencia at the end of this month! I absolutely love reading! I’m a huge Lost Generation junkie; Really love Hem. I love photography, travelling, camping, hiking, cooking, and doing yoga.

•  Introduce your pareja (boyfriend/ girlfriend).  What’s his/ her name? How old is he/she? What does he/she do?  Where does he/she live?

My “media naranja”, Adrián is 26 years old. He works at his family’s furniture company by day and is a tech genius by night. He lives in Valencia Capital.

• When and how did you two meet?  Give us the details ; )

I was studying in Valencia in 2014 and my university paired us with an “intercambio”; a student our age to practice Spanish with, practice English, ask for guidance, etc. My American friend Chelsea was paired with a girl who was friends with my boyfriend’s best friend, Juan Carlos. They were all a lot of fun and we went out quite a bit that semester. One night during Fallas (the most important festival in Valencia) I begged my flat mate to go out with our Spanish friends and after a good hour of pleading, I finally dragged her out of bed and we all met for a “botollón” with the idea that we were going to the clubs after. Juan Carlos apparently had also dragged his friend out that night, too and that’s when I met Adrián. I mentioned this crazy B movie that really blew my mind and he told me that he had seen it, too, which is crazy because he was the first person I’d ever met that had seen it. I didn’t believe him at first, but he then went into more detail and it was clear he had definitely watched this bizarre movie where Bjork works at a factory, eventually goes blind, and then later gets hanged–really weird. We talked about music and movies and culture all night and never ended up going to a single club. He walked me and my flat mate home at 5 am; Turns out we lived quite close. And when we got upstairs I turned to my roomate and said, “I don’t remember his name.”  

• When did you first start dating?

So after a not so lengthy search through Juan Carlos’ Facebook friends (his name does start with ‘A’ remember), I found him and we started talking casually. We went on several dates in 2014, however, always keeping in mind that in a few short months I was leaving to finish university back home.

We spent the next 9 months talking, skyping, sending letters, and when he could stand it no longer, he told me with a week’s notice, “I’m coming to visit you, I have to.” We never really knew when our anniversary was, but decided we started dating seriously in March of 2015, about a year after we met.

• What do you and your pareja like to do together for fun?

We really enjoy travelling; cooking, hiking when we can, watching films, ordering Chinese, having ridiculously long talks about books and other things we’ve read, discovering music together, trying new restaurants, camping, adventure sports (i.e. bungy jumping, skydiving). We spend a lot of time teaching one another about our cultures.

• What’s are some of the differences you’ve noticed between dating someone from a different culture vs. someone from your own culture?

Almost everything about my culture is a novelty for him. I find that I get way more excited about even the simplest things (Buffalo Wild Wings, Costco, carpeted floors) because they’re new for him and because he gets excited. Witnessing my culture and upbringing from such a different perspective is certainly something I’d never experience with someone from the United States. The way we’ve adapted throughout the years to be able to communicate clearly, watching him gawk over really normal things, try different food for the first time (ask me what the hell a blueberry is when I hand him a bowl), argue about how there are definitely NOT kangaroos in the United States, etc.

• What’s the best thing about being with your pareja?

His incredible patience and tremendous capacity for empathy; That in everything he does or says he encourages me to be the best me.

• What’s the biggest miscommunication you’ve ever had?  Any really awkward moments?

Of course the typical misunderstandings when we argue due to faulty translations. I remember we had a rough time with the difference between “entender” and “comprender”.

Once, when he invited me to go bungee jumping he texted me and told me to bring a lunch, which I understood as, “We’re bringing lunch so come with an appetite, you don’t have to provide anything.” When we got to Siete Aguas and everyone started pulling out sandwiches and he asked me what I’d brought, I realized that was exactly not what he had written. I told him I had already feasted at home, a total lie, and watched with jealously as they all devoured their homemade “bocadillos”. Later when we jumped, I discovered why it was so imperative that I eat and struggled to climb back up from the valley, fighting the urge to vomit when I realized that everyone could see me in my plight. They all shouted, “Tú puedes!”

• What language do you speak in?

Spanish 99.8% of the time, 0.19% English (although he might argue we speak more English than we actually do), and 0.01% Valenciano.

• What is something (or a few things) you have struggled with in your relationship that is due to the fact that you’re from different places?

Just being from two completely different worlds, having visa difficulties, and doing long distance for a few months at a time because logistically it’s really hard to be together.

• Has your pareja ever been to your hometown?  What was that like?

A few times actually! We lived there together for three months. It was really, incredibly fun. I think the most difficult part is finding time and space in our stomachs for all the must-try food and drinks.

• Have you ever met your pareja’s family?  What was it like? Were you nervous?

In fact, I consider them my own. I was really nervous when I formally met his mom. He picked me up from the airport and that same afternoon his mom made a “paella de fideos”. I confused the word for peas with the word for worms and repeated several times how much I loved the worms in the paella, they were the best part, until she told me, “Um, they’re noodles” and I realized I had confused “guisantes” with “gusanos.”

When I met his dad and his wife we were eating those spicy canned pickle, onion, pepper things and I proceeded to put my fingers in my eyes and was crying the rest of the afternoon. They now joke with me to take care whenever I eat anything even remotely spicy.

• What is your biggest pet peeve about dating someone from another culture?  (Don’t worry, we all have them!)

Going back to the States together and always having the most bizarre time in customs.

• In an ideal world, where would you both live?

Ideally we would both live in Valencia, and, in fact, we are moving in together this summer in Valencia Capital and couldn’t be happier!

• Any funny stories, cute moments, etc. that you want to tell from your relationship?  Just to give us a peek into your day-to-day life!

Are they not infinite? I must say though that once in a while Adri suddenly says very funny things in English. He heard What’s Your Fantasy by Ludacris about a year ago and I constantly dreaded those moments when he’d a cappella sing it to me, but this year at our American Thanksgiving get-together, he started singing it and it was a big hit.

He’s extraordinarily cute when he speaks in English sometimes. I remember when he came to visit me in the States for the first time and he asked me if I wanted him to put the dishes in the ‘wash plates’ and it took me a second to realize he was literally translating dishwasher from Spanish.

• Please share anything else you would like to share!

To answer the follow-up question about a strange thing he wholeheartedly believes that is just not true: Every time I have a sore throat he tells me the typical, “Drink some tea with lots of honey and lemon, rest your voice, blah, blah, blah” but he also tells me, “And sleep with a dirty sock on your throat. It works every time.” Not true.

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Thank you for participating Taylor (and Adrián)!  You look like a great couple that has a lot of fun together and you are figuring out this inter-cultural dating thing with ease.  

Again, if you want to follow Taylor, you can find her at ta_yl_ro or feel free to comment on this post!

Past Dating a Spaniard Series posts:

• Becky and Alejandro