Lost in Translation

Being in Argentina and now Chile has been a great improvement after the language problems we had in Brazil. However, the more significant misunderstandings have generally been either when speaking English or when (as frequently happens) people assume I am Brazilian and launch into Portuguese. The woman from the car hire company assumed I was Brazilian until I showed her my UK driving licence at which point she said: "you are from Ukraine?". I assume she hasn't met too many Ukranians if she thinks I might resemble one.

As happens in Spain some of the translations into English on menus can be misleading so if you want to be sure what you get it's best to stick to Spanish.  The same is true of the safety demonstration on the Chilean airline, LAN, where the stewardesses read out the English version such that it sounds like it has been put through the verbal equivalent of a food processor.  I'm sure we frequently get our own back when speaking Spanish.

More confusion came on a walk in Argentina when our guide stopped to show us a plant with yellow flowers which he said was used as an ingredient in "Beak Bappa Roop". We all looked blank until someone worked out he meant Vick Vapor Rub to everyone's amusement. When in Chile a few days later we saw the same plant I asked the guide if it was used in Beak Bappa Roop he said yes without hesitation.

Our favourite "lost in translation" was in a lakeside restaurant in Puerto Varas that sold the local freshwater fish. They had decided to continue the theme on the bathroom doors such that the Gents are "Salmon" and the Ladies, rather unfortunately, are "Trout"!

Our most difficult conversation in terms of language came at lunchtime on our New Year's Eve day trip. We sat down to lunch with four people from Catalunya and were having a good chat to them in Spanish when a Brazilian couple came to sit next to us on the long table at which we were seated. For the next half hour we struggled to hold a conversation because they spoke some Spanish but with very heavy Portuguese accents. It was a shame because they seemed such nice people.

It turned out that the Brazilian couple were having dinner in the same place as us that night and they came over to wish us a happy new year. We were with a German couple speaking English at which time we found out that the Brazilians spoke English too!  For some reason earlier in the day it never occurred to any of us to try English.

Communication gets easier on New Year's Eve

On New Year's Day we went out to lunch with Sandra and Rolf, the Brazilian couple, and chatted for three hours with no problem at all.  The only odd moment was when a local came and told me slightly aggressively that Chile was a better country than Brazil. When I told him I was from England he wouldn't believe me. When Rolf our (white) Brazilian friend told him he couldn't sit with us the local left saying to Rolf: "you English are cold people"!