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For my birthday, my Spanish parents threw me a party and insisted that I invite my friends. It was such an appreciated gesture, and it made for one of the best birthdays I’ve had in years.

I gathered los amigos and brought them over to my house, where my mom and grandmother waited on us hand and foot; “¿quieres algo más?” o “¿necesitas más cerveza?” We sat around the living room drinking and chomping on chips, chatting it up in Spanish and watching the Barcelona/Chelsea game on tv for about an hour. Afterwards, we had a spread of Spanish staples: ham, ham, ham, ham, ham, ham, ham, cheese, Spanish tortillas, empanada, cheese, cheese, and bread, all washed down with plenty to drink. The food was great, and there was TONS to eat. All the while, my parents got progressively more drunk and progressively more talkative; towards the end, there was no shortage of swipes at American culture/hypocrisy/contradiction, and all any of us could say was “it’s true.”

After the food and some digestion time, they brought out a totally unexpected cake, and everyone sang “Cumpleaños Feliz” (incidentally, they sing that, and not “Feliz cumpleaños a tí” as we learned in high school Spanish). And, to top it off, they produced a bottle of champagne for me to open and distribute. At the end of the bottle, my mom asked “Does anyone want more champagne? For example, me?” (in Spanish; it was a lot funnier than it sounds written), and she magically produced another bottle. We sat around talking until almost midnight, then hit the bars.

A great night on the whole. Thank you to everyone who sent birthday wishes! They brightened my day even more.