Si senor

I have to confess that I have a couple of odd habits when I travel. The first is that when I arrive somewhere I like to do my washing. Not so strange you may be thinking, but it’s not usually the very first thing you do when you reach a new destination. I went to New Caledonia with my friend Ani a couple of years ago and when we got to our resort she found me in the bathroom moments after we checked in, wrapped in a towel, hand-washing the clothes I had just been wearing. To this day she mocks me mercilessly about it. When I messaged Ani that I had arrived in Singapore the first thing she said was “I guess you’ve got a load of washing on then” (and I had 🙂 ). In the UK when I stayed with my friends Claire & Sean, I not only did my laundry every day, but theirs as well (to Claire’s horror). I’m traveling pretty light on this trip but definitely have no need wash so often. I just can’t help myself. It’s not something I feel compelled to do when I’m at home. Go figure. The second thing is that when I am asked something in a language I don’t understand, I respond in Spanish. I don’t know why this is, it isn’t my native language, I could just speak English, but I open my mouth and Spanish comes out. I can speak basic Spanish from previous travels in Spain and South America, but I’m not fluent. ‘No gracias’ just seems to slide off the tongue so much more smoothly than ‘no thank you’. And (more embarrassingly) if I can’t find the right Spanish word I mix a bit of French and Italian in as well. Perhaps I should learn how to say ‘can I please wash your clothes’ 🙂