I was touring in Costa Rica and stopped to ask a man for directions, in Spanish. He replied to me in English that he didn't understand. He was a retired ex-pat from North America and couldn't speak any Spanish.

I was coming down a pass in Chile and saw a touring cyclist coming toward me. I stopped and learned that he spoke German. He had grown up in East Germany so he hadn't studied either English or Spanish as a kid. He was thrilled that I could speak German with him. It was his first day in Chile and I don't think he'd been able to actually converse with anyone. We talked for a long time. I still needed to get to the next town, so I told him I really needed to get moving again. I often wondered how he made out on that tour.