Guest blogger Ruth Leckenby.
The time I thought: "Could someone please tell me what’s going on?!!!"

O the joys of speaking about 10 words of Portuguese!!! This meant I was frequently asking or thinking this phrase!!! I found this particularly in shops. The second your foot steps on, or even hovers over the threshold, the shop assistants stampede to you! They usually start uncomplicated enough with a “ola!” or a “bom dia!” maybe even a “tudo bem?” Then they start chattering away presumably saying something like…”can I help you?” but I had absolutely no idea and so the phrase I used the most was probably…”desculpe nao fala Portuguese” (sorry I don’t speak Portuguese) it didn’t usually stop them though and they’d trot off around the shop pulling out random items they thought I might like and speaking in a torrent of Portuguese with the occasional word of English! They sold with such enthusiasm, rarely seen in the UK. It was really fun!!!