As much as I do love to talk, this morning was one where I was quite content to listen. Why didn’t I talk much? Because Ashlee and I accompanied Ben and his teacher in going to the Castelo São Jorge that sits on the hill adjoining our hostel, and since it was his Portuguese tutoring time, his teacher said that it would be Portuguese-only…I don’t speak Portuguese. But why was I content about it? Well, as a linguist in Spanish, I have learned about patterns regarding how Latin evolved over time, eventually getting divided politically into languages such as Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Italian. And I did sit in on a Portuguese 101 class for three weeks. At any rate, I was fascinated by how much I could understand of what Ben’s teacher said, and I understood most everything that Ben and Ashlee said in Portuguese. Haha, even when Ben and his teacher had to sit down (after we wandered through the old castle grounds and some Moorish ruins from 200 BC) to correct his homework and he told us we didn’t have to feel like we had to stick around for that, Ashlee was content to stay because it was Portuguese and she loves it, and I was simply enthralled with the language that is foreign to me. Hah, and Ben thought I was being sarcastic!
Honestly, it surprises me just how much I can understand without really having studied the language much, all based on having learned some general rules and patterns both within the language itself and in relation to its similarities with Spanish. The frustrating thing is that even if/when I understand a question, I don’t know how to respond! Yeah, that became an issue in the restaurant we ate in for lunch. I had just had some real genuine Portuguese food, bacalhau a mintronha, and I got up to fill my water bottle in the bathroom sink so as not to have to pay for it, when the lovely waitress serving us took the bottle from me, offering to fill it up. I understood her words and question, answering that I wanted cold water rather than natural water, but then I wondered if they’d give me bottled water rather than tap water and that then I’d have to pay. I tried to protest having to pay, but words failed me, and my mind became a jumbled mess of Spanish, French, English, and potentially made-up Portuguese words and fragments. Thankfully, Ben’s teacher was nearby, so it got resolved pretty easily, but it did show me how important it is to learn to speak a language and not wholly rely on the fact that “most” people know some English. And it turns out that the waitress was really simply being kind and that the water was free! Yay, tasty, cold water!
Lunch over, Ben's teacher left us to our own vices. ;) Really, though, we aren't terrible troublemakers and our main plan for the afternoon was to venture across the water to see Cristo Rei up close and personal! To do so, we simple had to take a ferry. I loved it! I only wish we could've been on the deck rather than inside.
The view on the way over on the ferry
Cristo Rei
Cheesy picture? Sure, but we could've been anywhere in the world, lounging on the grass together. But where did we go to do it? The shade under a tree in front of Cristo Rei.
From way up there, we saw a domed building that looked interested, so why not check it out? Using Ben's man-sense of direction and our woman intuition, we eventually found it, "it" being the city Panteão. Unfortunately, our little hunt in the heat ended we we found it and learned that it had closed only minutes before. Oh well, that mean we could go to the movies sooner and buy ourselves some theater candy and drinks. :D
At the movies, we watched X-Men: First Class, which was quite violent but intriguing. Perhaps one of the best parts, aside from the polyglot nature of the film, was the Portuguese pronunciation of it: "sheez man." But on our way over, we played word games with Ben's Kindle's dictionary. Yes, we thought of it all on our own. It had started as word meaning and etymology look-ups for stuff like "cloister" and "effigy," but it became a guessing game of reading definitions and guessing the words. And we had a blast. Nerds, totally and completely. Another unexciting but very contented moment for me. :D
At the movies, we watched X-Men: First Class, which was quite violent but intriguing. Perhaps one of the best parts, aside from the polyglot nature of the film, was the Portuguese pronunciation of it: "sheez man." But on our way over, we played word games with Ben's Kindle's dictionary. Yes, we thought of it all on our own. It had started as word meaning and etymology look-ups for stuff like "cloister" and "effigy," but it became a guessing game of reading definitions and guessing the words. And we had a blast. Nerds, totally and completely. Another unexciting but very contented moment for me. :D
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