For some reason talking Southern

It is Saturday, the 9th. Lin and I just finished breakfast and I am about to load my gear out into her car. My flight leaves in two hours.

For some reason I am talking Southern. Not just a harmless remainderment attached to the tail of each word, but a full blown Gone With The Wind accent. Lin asks if I am doing this because I am about to head south. She points out that the predominant language will be Spanish as opposed to civil war era Georgian. "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn," I respond, sticking with the whole Rett Butler character.

I don't speak Spanish. This is bound to complicate things a bit in Argentina. But I didn't speak Russian and still managed to make my way through that country last August. One unexpected benefit of this has been the improvement of my drawing abilities.

While in St. Petersburg this summer I enjoyed a large and lengthy Chinese meal one afternoon. The driving rains outside gave me cause to order a second and third pot of green tea as I waited them out. By the time I stood up I sounded like an aquarium being rocked to and fro. Russians are not big on labeling things, so finding a restroom can be a bit of a guessing game. I didn't have that kind of time. I approached the two Russian men tending the till and asked where the restroom is. They stood there in unconvincing Kimonos, confused looks on their faces. I tried the word "bathroom." Nothing. Borrowing a pen and paper, I next set about to drawing a toilet. They studied my progress intently, mumbling to one another in Russian. Then one of them shouted "Toilet!" "Toilet," the other shouted back. They high-fived in satisfaction and continued chanting "Toilet toilet toilet!" Humiliated, I looked about the restaurant to survey the reaction of its other patrons. There was none. Apparently no one else knew this English word. The good fortune of being alone in one's dread was mine.

In some strange way, still stranger than the southern accent I am speaking in now, I look forward to similar experiences in Argentina. It's time to go now and it's all I can do to not finish by saying I am Gone With The Wind.