Does this happen to anyone else?
My husband and I just got back from a seven hour birthday party. We had a wonderful time, but we are both exhausted.
There was incredible food, non-stop loud music and many relatives and friends. We were the only non native Mexicans there; in fact, we were the only people there who know more than fifty words in English.
We talked, danced and ate with everyone in the room for seven hours.
We love this sort of thing; we just love it!
On the other hand, every time we are invited to something like this, we end up being totally exhausted once we get home.
Is this normal, or are we a couple of pansies?
Any experiences that you can share with us will be most welcome!
7 Answers
After working for eight hours and then driving home in the traffic one would
expect to be tired and need to sit down and have a quiet drink . But after
spending seven hours enjoying yourselves , if you are exhausted then, unless
you are over eighty I am sorry you need more training ,start going to more parties
and build up to 12 hours without passing out from exhaustion , it is also good
advice to eat less and drink more it increases the metabolic rate thereby
giving you a heightened sense of infallibility and dare say I it, invincibility.
You will still be exhausted out of your brain , but will not care a tinkers cuss .
Happy partying ! May I join you at the next one ?
Ray said:
but will not care a tinkers cuss .
I love this phrase....I think. Are there any Australian natives to interpret? 
Anyway, Mountaingirl,
I think this is completely normal. Seven hours is a long time. I don't know if I have ever been to a seven hour party. But I have been to a few three hour parties which seemed to be seven hours long. 
Pues, acabo de volver de una fiesta de cumpleaños para mi sobrina y ya estoy agotado pero la verdad es que ni siquiera tardé 7 horas en cansarme. En cualquier caso ya lo sé que no necesito una mecedora como sugirió Quentin....Necesito una cama.
This is more appropriate for me.
I'd say that if a mere seven hours of Mexican partying exhausts you, then yes, you two are a couple of pansies
Seriously though, I think that's normal when you are good at but not yet completely fluent in a foreign language. When I read or listen to Spanish or talk to someone in Spanish I still have to concentrate much more and literally deliberate on what I want to say and how to say it. And after a while that can get exhausting.
On the other hand, the party may have something to do with it as well. I don't know about Mexicans, but last year the Spanish population of my hometown (in Germany!) celebrated about 200 meters from our doorstep after almost every match of their team in the football (soccer) world cup, and they can be really, really loud. Which can be exhausting at 2 am on a workday
¡Villa, Villa, Villa Maravilla!
Tell me about it Mountaingirl!
I'm one of those girls who have parties almost everyday!
It's completely normal to be exhausted, 7 hours of loud music is long enough to make anybody too tired that he dreams of a nice warm bed!
mountaingirl, I believe there is a physiological reason for the extreme exhaustion you have described. It happens to me every time I am in meetings or classes where Spanish is the only language being used. It did not have this impact on me until I became skilled enough to understand most of the discussion. Now, after the classes or meeting, I am exhausted. I think happens for at least two reasons.
First, there is a natural stress involved in being around people from another culture.
Second, though I know you are far more fluent than I, there is a constant mental stress involved in exercising portions of the brain related to translating and recall. After every meeting, I go through about 10 minutes of mental fatigue, unable to adequately communicate in either language.
I talked to one of my mentors about this a few months back. He works as a translator in person-to-person and group meetings. He says he experiences the same fatigue, even though he has done this for many years. But he says it has improved from the level he experienced at first.
Hope that helps!
It certainly sounds normal to me. 7 hours is a long time with so much activity and stimulation. Sounds like a great party.
