I really enjoyed your post about South Australia, narrated from your perspective as a British immigrant. Perhaps the parts that caught my attention the most were where you comment on how the size and model of the vehicle you drive determines how you're treated on the road, and the difficulties that can arise from not being familiar with idiomatic expressions.
You know, I have a sister who lived in London for a few years and, since her ex-husband worked in the oil industry, she traveled to Asian countries, especially China. I don't recall her ever telling me such a vivid and interesting account of places as the one you share here. We are South Americans, from a tropical and Caribbean culture, where there are two seasons—if you can call them that (dry and rainy)—which are mostly mild, and Spanish is the dominant language. And I can assure you that we also suffer, depending on the region, from the pitfalls of words in various contexts. For example, my wife once reacted angrily because someone called her "Mona." She thought they were insulting her by comparing her to a chimpanzee when it was actually a compliment for being blonde. Something she understood many years later. Ha, ha, ha.
On the other hand, here too, big SUVs rule the streets, where chaos reigns. People don't usually respect traffic laws. My ex-brother-in-law, an Englishman, used to say that this was one of the things he enjoyed and enthusiastically learned the word "chévere" (cool). Personally, I'd like more order and respect, but without going overboard.
I don't know how good it would be to recount some travel experiences, since they were brief, and I would risk not capturing the true essence of those places. Perhaps I could tell you about Brazil in a future post, sharing my impressions of Rio de Janeiro or the jungle city of Manaus, where the Rio Negro and the mighty Amazon meet.
It's always a pleasure to read from you.
Greeting.
SUVs are very popular in Australia too whereas smaller vehicles are more common on the smaller European roads. I call the SUVs mum/mom cars because they are so popular with mums doing the school runs. Unfortunately they often don't drive very well and commonly cause obstructions and near misses around the school zones.
I would love to learn more about Brazil. I met a Brazilian woman here a few years ago and it was only then that I learnt Portugese is spoken there, not Spanish as many assume with it being in South America.
@topcomment
Well, Brazil is a neighboring country. I do speak Spanish. By the way, when I visited, I thought I wouldn't have much trouble understanding them, but I was wrong when I went into a bakery in São Paulo. In the end, sign language and mime saved me.
Perhaps I should tell you about my country, Venezuela.
When I first started on Hive (formerly Steemit), I made some posts with photos from my visits to Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Manus, and Brasília during a study trip.
Here are a couple of them:
https://hive.blog/travelfeed/@janaveda/2013-traveller-memories-iii-manaus-meeting-of-waters-part-1
https://hive.blog/travelfeed/@janaveda/2013-traveller-memories-iii-manaus-meeting-of-waters-part-2
When I asked the Brazilian woman if Portuguese was similar to Spanish she said it wasn't at all. 😆 With Spain bordering Portugal and Spanish speaking countries bordering Brazil I guess it's easy to assume similarities. Yet I should know better because France also borders Spain and Germany and I know how different all those languages are.
Yes, that's right. Even within the same language, dialects have their own unique characteristics. In some regions, people speak so fast that it's sometimes hard to understand what they're saying. I see another example in modern singers. It's not that the past was better. I think that before, diction and cadence made them instantly understandable; today, you have to pay closer attention to avoid getting lost.