I don't want to be an ugly American!

So I was at the grocery store the other day. Stocking up on the usual – milk, eggs, butter, you know. But I also wanted to get a few items from the international foods section to make a few dishes I had when I went to Spain. However, there was a cart stacked with boxes blocking the shelf with the items I needed. I hesitated for a moment, unsure if I should try to move the cart when a young man came down the aisle. Since he was wearing an apron and a name tag, it was clear he worked there. He apologized for the cart and moved it. I said no problem. Then he asked what I was planning to do with the items I was selecting from the shelf. Thus, I explained what dishes I was going to make and why. He got all excited and told me about his trip to Spain over spring break. We ended up having this great conversation about how neither one of us really speaks Spanish. Which is an issue as in Spain not many people speak English. We shared a few laughs about what words and phrases you absolutely must know to survive. ‘Quiero’ – ‘I want’. Okay, if you don’t know much more than this you will probably end up pantomiming what it is you want. Some words work no matter what the language – coffee, sandwich. Others, well, good luck. ‘Cuanto cuesta’ – ‘How much’. Now that you established what you want, you’ve got to pay for it. Odds are even if people are laughing their heads off at you by this point, you ain’t getting a free lunch. ‘Por favor’ – ‘Please’. Because, hey, let’s face facts here. Even if you were a huge Dora the Explorer fan back in the day, you probably don’t know your numbers beyond diez. Thus, you can hand someone a pad and a pen and have them write down the total for you. ‘Gracias’ – ‘Thank you’. After all, you might as well be polite since you’ve clearly just showed everyone in the world you’re too stupid to learn more than 6 words in their language. Yup, the young man at the store agreed with me that this is why so many in other countries call us ‘ugly Americans’. And we also both vowed to return to Spain after we learned a lot more of the language. After all, learning is good for us. It helps us see something besides ourselves, keeps our minds sharp and gives us a goal to work towards. Fine, he is 20 something years younger than me and I’m sure can learn a language much faster. I’ve been trying to learn Spanish now for 2 years and still can barely form more than 3 complete sentences in a row. Yet I keep trying, because I want to not get the blank look from the waitress when I try to order. Or have to repeat myself several times at the shop to get the right item. I want to have the full cultural experience when I travel, not to be on the sidelines understanding very little. So pick a goal, work towards it and never give up.