LCSOM: How did she do that?

So, one of the best things that has been happening in our move to Las Cruces was learning to use the GPS in my cellphone to get directions. Outside of a problem outside of Houston, where we ran into a closed road and our GPS kept sending us the same way, it has been great (it has a female voice so I will call it a she for the time being.) She is accurate and always seems to send us in the quickest, shortest route. My only complaint is that she drains the cellphone battery something awful so we have to keep a charger in the car, especially if we have a complicated route that is long, but this is easy to deal with.

I always wondered how she would handle the Spanish words both when I am speaking a destination to her or when she calls out streets during the directions. Generally, she has been fine. When I talk to her and use Spanish words, she may not get the spelling right but she has been able to figure it out and give accurate directions. Her pronunciation has been a different story. She has had minor issues with words like "solano" but our favorite has been when she says "AMADOR", a major crossroad her in town. It is properly pronounced AM-A-DOR, with both "A's" short. However she has consistently said A-MADE-OR, with emphasis on the second syllable. The first time we heard it, we had no idea what she said but after a couple times we understood what she was saying and always giggled when she said it.

Today however, something happened. As we were driving to the store, we were going to turn onto Amador Avenue but she suddenly pronounced it correctly, and continued to do so several more times in the set of directions. We were speechless. How did that happen? We have never said the word Amador to her. I always dictate the place we want, like Walmart, or Encantada Park or Water and More, and she finds it and lets me choose the correct one if there are multiple listings. But I never said Amador, not once. 

It makes us wonder if she is listening in to our conversations, and what else she may have heard!