Vosotros and Huevos OR Eggs for Dinner OR Scrambled Customs: Confusion Within Latin Culture

By Bella Corral

“Qué padre!” was my response when my host mom showed me a video of her dog performing a trick.

She looked at me in total confusion asking, “¿Qué dijiste?”I explained to her that in Mexico “Qué padre” meant “That’s so cool.”

That was one of the first cultural shocks I experienced while studying abroad in Spain last spring.

Growing up, I always heard that phrase in reaction to when something exciting or interesting happened. It was a phrase that I had heard all my life being raised in a Mexican household. So, it was very surprising to me when my host mom looked at me in utter confusion— as if I had just told her that eggs for dinner was not common in the United States (which was another thing I had to get used to during my time abroad).

That was the first of many cultural differences that I noticed while being abroad. This was my third time in Spain, so I thought I had pinpointed all the differences between Spanish and Mexican culture– but I was totally wrong. Living with a host mom abroad made me realize how many small differences there were, from formalities to slang, both countries had so many differences that I hadn’t noticed during my first few short trips to the European country.

Another main difference that I noticed was the use of pronouns. In high school Spanish class, I remember learning about “vosotros” when learning about Spanish pronouns. However, as any high schooler would, I decided not to memorize the “vosotros” conjugations of verbs because I thought “When would I ever need this?” Who would’ve thought I would be spending four months in Spain! I immediately regretted this during my second week abroad when “vosotros” was being thrown around like spaghetti in every conversation. I was so confused and wished I had remembered Sra. Alfaro’s pronoun lesson from five years prior. In my head, I could vaguely hear her voice explaining the lesson, but it was of no avail. It was going to be a long next few months. Another pronoun that became my worst enemy abroad was “Usted.” In Mexican Spanish, we use “Usted” as a way to formally address someone. It is a sign of respect and intended to politely speak to someone. On the other hand, in Spain, “Tú” was used more commonly. I made the error while we were watching our nightly show, Pasapalabra, during dinner one night. I asked her, “¿Usted le gustaría estar en el Pasapalabra un día?” She turned around from watching the program and immediately corrected me, “¿Te gustaría estar en Pasapalabra un día?” I was completely thrown off by this and I think my facial expression revealed my confusion. She explained that in Spain, “Tú” was used more frequently. Whether it’s a professional environment or a casual conversation, “Tú” is much more commonly used than “Usted.” From then on, I noted this and stopped myself every single time I wanted to say the word “Usted” in a sentence.

As I mentioned before, another cultural adjustment was eating eggs for dinner. I remember being in my room when my host mom called my roommate and me to come eat dinner. I was surprised to see two fried eggs and a side of fries on my plate. And to top it all off dinner was always at 9 pm. So, as an American, eating eggs at 9 pm instead of 9 am was a complete culture shock.

While there were so many cultural differences between Spain and Mexico– and I mean many– It made me appreciate how unique both countries are. I always knew that there were distinctions in customs and traditions, but seeing how vastly different the ways of speaking were was extremely surprising to me. I made the mistake of putting an umbrella over all Spanish-speaking countries and assumed that all countries spoke the same “Spanish,” and I will not make that same mistake again in the future.

Going abroad changed my perceptions of a lot of things. Sometimes different cultures vary in how they talk to people, and sometimes there are different ways of addressing a group of people– and that’s okay. It did take me a while to adjust to this, but in the end, it all worked out. And while I do like eating my eggs in the morning, I’m not opposed to eating them at night.