I’ve never openly talked about my relationship on here, mostly just mentioning “the boyfriend” here and there in my random travel adventures. A lot of my friends and family have asked me how we met and our “story”. Actually, a lot of people who meet us usually ask how we met, how it all started, and what language we primarily speak in. Now we’re going to get a tad more into my hopeless romantic side!

I met my boyfriend, Mario, the first day I officially moved into my apartment, last year. The small pueblo I was living in, was having their September feria (basically a giant party all weekend), and my roommate at the time introduced us. I really didn’t think much of it, just another friend in this new country that I was calling my home. Also, it helped a lot that he spoke English, and I felt much more comfortable speaking English than Spanish. The three of us spent all weekend together, introducing me to their friends, showing me around the pueblo, and making sure I felt the most comfortable. By the end of it, we were calling ourselves the three best friends! (:

Mario moved down to the south of Spain, shortly after us meeting, to start studying again and to begin working. He moved down to Málaga, which is about five and a half hours from Torrijos. We would occasionally see each other when he came back to visit or randomly talk to see how the other was doing. I didn’t think of him as anything besides one of my closest friends in Spain. Plus, who’s got time for dating when I’m here working, traveling, trying to improve my Spanish and world domination?!

When things really started to become serious was in March, when I found out that both of my roommates wouldn’t be there for my birthday. I’d be spending my birthday overseas alone!!! I told Mario about the dilemma, and he suggested that besides spending it alone, we could take a trip together to Extremadura (the region closest to Portugal). It was a spontaneous road trip for the two of us. I know, y’all are probably thinking we had it coming that something “sparked” between us, but in all seriousness, we entered the trip as friends and at the end of the trip, we were JUST FRIENDS. After we arrived home, Mario dropped me off at my apartment and we agreed to meet later for drinks and a night out.

Now, I’ll spare y’all with the details, but let’s just say that someone was a wee bit drunk and was hanging around a different person all night. I kept denying that it was bothering me and that I liked him. I ignored him all night, wouldn’t even look at him, and tried to leave as soon as possible. But, HE KEPT FOLLOWING ME (well, that’s what I think). Whenever I purposely left the group, Mario would come and check on me, whenever I tried to leave, he convinced me to stay longer, when I actually left, he left with me and said he’d walk me home to my house. This guy was relentless, and I was still denying any inkling of feelings for him.

By the end of the night, we actually brought up the subject of what the heck was going on. It didn’t help that he was leaving the next day to go back down to Malaga. We agreed that we would see where things go, considering we were five and a half hours away from each other and only one person had a car. We continued to talk everyday through Whatsapp and every night on the phone. Ugh, the mushy parts… And fast forward to now, and we’re living together in Lucena and continuing to work on our relationship everyday! Funny how it all works out, right? This guy, who I thought was the dorkiest person and one of my closest friends in Spain, actually turns out to be the sweetest and most thoughtful boyfriend.

Alright, enough about my personal business!! I’m getting awkward talking about all these feelings! If you’re in an intercultural relationship, I’d love to hear your story and share it on my blog! Send me a message (: Stay tuned for my more on the blog, from the series Spanimerican where I talk about some different things that Mario and I go through dealing with two different languages, two different cultures, and learning how to work through an intercultural/national relationship!

*I’ve shared my full story about finding love abroad on Travel, Pray, Love! You can find that story on her blog! (: