Translations

[Rosina Lila]

Thank you Richard,
I've gotten a few messages bemoaning my selfishness; one said that speaking
several languages is a "gift" that as its own reward  it should be shared.
Perhaps.....but, picture this:  you are at dinner reading the menu and trying
to decide what to order when you are called upon  to translate the menu for
the others..., almost dish by dish;  when it seems that the companions have
made their selections  you go back to trying to make your own choice  during
which process, inevitably, one of the companions or another interrups you to have
you ask the waiter  "what comes with it"? or "how is it cooked"?  or etc.,
etc., etc.
Or, later in your room,  you finally fall asleep and then there's a knock on
the door, or the phone rings, and is one companion or another asking you to
tell the desk that the water is too hot, or it is not hot enough, or that the
wake-up instructions are not clear, and on and on and on.
After a while you begin to feel like a trained seal, or a low-level employee,
and have to decide between having an out-an-out fight or merely taking off on
your own.
As for speaking several languages being a "gift", well, except for English
and Spanish, the gift of speaking Portuguese Italian and French has certainly
cost thousands and thousands of hours of study, books, records, tapes, etc.
(French was particularly hard; Italian and Portuguese were a joy).
I will admit, however, that getting a foothold on a language is not very
hard. with a little bit of effort. Before I visited Russia the first time I made
it my business to learn the basics of the language.  In my traveling group I
was the only one who could communicate, albeit very little, and, sure enough,
someone woke me up at midnight to have me ask the person in charge of the floor
for boiling water that she needed for something having to do with her contact
lenses!
Going to Africa I studied Swahili as much as I could which apparently
encouraged the guides to come to me more than to the others and, before I knew it, I
was spending all sorts of time trying to get some of my companions telephone
connections to the States.  In Africa!  for heaven's sake!.
On the Camino, the word travels up and down that such and such pilgrim
understands  this and that; I've been approached dozens of times by other pilgrims
who have asked me to translate for them because someone somewhere had described
my appearance  adding that I could speak this or that.
And no, I don't mind translating for pilgrims, or travelers, and in Santiago
I've spent hours, literally, at the Post Office helping out the beleaguered
employees there who are put upon by non-Spanish speaking pilgrims and/or
tourists, often quite rude, who take out on the employees their inability to
communicate.  Sometimes such pills don't even carry a dictionary!
I am leaving tomorrow evening;  (Hurrah!) quite excited about setting off for
Santiago from my beloved Seville, and have put my companion/relatives on
notice of my intent to update my will when we return sometime in September.
Seriously, if there is anything that I can do for you while on the Camino,
just let me know.  I'll be looking at my e-mail daily.
Warm regards,
Rosina
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