You say potato...

Just a brief post today to recount an incident of mild amusement that occurred yesterday.

To set the scene, I had arrived in Austin from Chicago and received a message from my friend Brian, whose place I am staying at. He was calling me to tell me his mobile wasn't working and that he'd be working late, so I should head straight to his place and let myself in with the spare key. I'd stayed at Brian's before so this all seemed fine. I found my way across Austin to Brian's house and from memory located the spare key, which was hanging from a small tree just by the front door. Unforunately just as I went to pluck the key from its perch, a car pulled into the driveway and startled me. I knocked the key from where it hung into a the darkness below. The car belonged to Brian's neighbour who initially viewed me with suspicion, but after I'd convinced her I was a genuine visitor, assisted me gamely in searching for the key. It had fallen in the worst possible place - a dark area of scrubby plants and lots of autumnal leaves. As close to a needle in a haystack as I have encountered. A few minutes of fruitless searching passed under the headlights of the neighbour's car. I suggested she could abandon her assistance if she wanted to get inside. She said she would as she'd had a hard day at work, but offered to leave the car so the lights could continue to guide me.
"Its ok" I said "I've got a torch in my bag."
Cue puzzled look from neighbour. "Isn't that a bit extreme?" she queried.
Now I was confused. "I carry it with me for reading." I offered. "It straps to my head."
My final comment positively baffled the helpful neighbour, but I then had my lightbulb moment (pardon the pun) and recalled a conversation I'd had with Sulakshana just days ago. She was telling me about words we use in England that confuse Americans. Near the top of her list was torch, which to them involves real fire (as in the Olympic torch). Now realising that she thought I wanted to set fire to the undergrowth to find the key and that she was visualising me wearing a firey stick strapped to my noggin, I triumphantly exclaimed that I meant a flashlight. Do you see?

Why did I tell you this story? Lets face it, at best it was vaguely interesting and amusing. Well it just made me realise that this trip has been very easy for me in terms of communicating. This was the first major misinterpretation of my verbals and it suddenly struck me that in a little over a month I will be venturing into a part of the world where my only fluent language will count for very little. The reality of Brazil is creeping up on me quickly and my greatest fear of being unable to communicate in a strange land is gnawing at my sinews. I really should have been practising Portuguese more than I have. However, dear readers, I am here to tell you that I will enter into this challenge a much stronger person. While my trip has presented little challenge in the language department, I feel I have grown in stature immeasurably in the months since I made my break with the comfort zone. I don't know why exactly but I know I feel more aware, more expressive and more confident. I wonder if you will notice a difference (beyond the beard) when I return? I wonder how much more I will change in the next few months?

Isn't life interesting eh?