Vernacular

I vividly remember being on holiday in Portugal as a kid and studying the back of shower gel bottles in the bathroom. I was a wild child. The Portuguese text was full of do da dos das na no nas nos um uma uns umas num numa and related prepositions and conjunctions. Lots of words ending in m. What is this strange vernacular, I thought. Now it’s nice to be able to whip out the language well enough to plan projects and submit proposals with colleagues.

A day of fairly draining work on our submission. Then an energetic discussion about the book-editing project I’m working on as a side hustle, which increased the buoyancy levels.

Then an apple juice and some typical rissois de camarão with a former colleague who is visiting Maputo.

A day that improved gradually as it unfolded. Complete with a lovely colourful hedge.