Lost in Translation in Galicia

Galicia surprised us before we even had the chance to appreciate its rugged coastline, green hills, and Celtic mystique. As we crossed the border from Portugal into Spain, I expected at least one thing to become easier: understanding the language.Marcie is the linguist of the family and somehow manages to communicate almost anywhere we travel. I, on the other hand, have spent years enthusiastically butchering foreign languages across multiple continents. Even after nearly five years of living in South America, my Spanish remained questionable at best. Still, it was—and remains—far better than my extremely limited Portuguese. So when we crossed into Spain, I was looking forward to hearing familiar Spanish words again and finally understanding at least a smidgeon of what people around us were saying. Except…the language didn’t seem to change.Menus, road signs, conversations drifting from café tables—all of it still sounded suspiciously Portuguese. For a brief moment I wondered if we had…