"¡Gracias!"

In conversation class the other day, I learned that it is actually inappropriate to say thank you a lot in Spain. I’ve been saying “gracias” to my host family about every five minutes because they’re so adorable and make me food and clean my room and do my laundry. I’ve tried to clean my own room and do my dishes, etc, but my host parents literally won’t let me help out. They’re so nice. Anyway, I talked with my host mom about saying thank you and she laughed. After 15 years of hosting Dartmouth girls on the LSA, she said she’s used to the excessive amount of thank you’s. However, she told me that ONCE A DAY if that is enough. This is so different from the United States, where not saying thank you after every little thing is considered incredibly rude. Now I have to stop myself from saying thank you so much in order to avoid sounding like a crazy American.