A few weeks ago, I finished reading Errant In Iberia by Ben Curtis – an enjoyable read about a young man leaving London and heading to Spain for a trip, and he is still there. In it I came across a term that was new to me – intercambio. The official use seemingly was a foreign person (e.g. English) with whom a native (e.g. Spanish) speaker would meet to practice both their languages on each other. The inference from the book was that it was also a potential for relationship – a reason to meet and get to know first but options were open. That the author ended up wedded to his intercambio did reinforce this aspect. Then last week, I was in the O’Rahilly Building in U.C.C. and noted these on the door of the Seomra Caidrimh. The cynic in me could now not but suspect if the message on the card was the truth, the whole truth and nothing but….. |