I never worry much about cardinal points when I'm home. But then I spent some months in two countries in which the addressing system does not use street names o

I never worry much about cardinal points when I'm home. But then I spent some months in two countries in which the addressing system does not use street names or house numbers but points of references and cardinal directions [1]. After about a month there, keeping track of the cardinal points became second nature because it was a necessary part of functioning in those countries. Since directions in conversations usually are "Just walk two blocks then one East" However when I'm home, I stop keeping track where the North is, because it is not that necessary. And while we also speak Spanish in my country, we tell directions in a different way, using words like "Turn right, the left, downhill, uphill. [1] Addresses in Nicaragua and Costa Rica are very unusual for the rest of the world. For example "From the Cowboy's Sour Milk, Two Blocks West, Right hand" is a completely valid address in Managua.