Today in o-chem recitation, while I was venting to my friend about the mounting pressure of my upcoming Arabic exam, another boy in my class interrupted me with, "Hey, you speak Arabic?"
"Kind of," I replied. "I'm in a class."
"Cool. I'm Palestinian. I live in Jerusalem."
I got excited! And then I felt bold.
me: "بقالك أد ايه في الامام المتحدة؟"
kid: "مرة تنية؟"
m: "بقالك أد ايه في الامام المتحدة؟"
k: "...سنة."
m: " !سنة بس؟ دا كويس قوي"
I babbled on in what I'm sure was poorly constructed colloquial Egyptian for a little while, and he just sat there, kind of smiling. He answered my questions and I was happy I was being understood by someone who actually speaks the language. Soon enough, class started and I distracted my attentions. But in the car on the way home from school, I remembered the conversation and stopped short.
Yes, الامام المتحدة DOES mean "the United Nations," not "the United States," and yes, that means I DID ask him (twice, mind you), "So how long have you been in the United Nations?"
aaaauuuuugggghhhhhh.
The worst part is, he didn't even SAY anything! He didn't correct me or laugh or tease me or anything! He just took it and acted like it was a legitimate question. He answered me as if he knew what I meant, but it took him two tries to understand what I was trying to say.
NO FREAKING WONDER.
3 comments:
HAHA! That's too funny!
It reminds me of when I was in Taiwan. I thought I was so clever using my "grammar patterns" that I went about saying, "I am sweating a lot." Turns out I was telling everyone, "I am raining so much!"
Same difference, right Vicky? But props to you, Jessica, for being gutsy enough to talk to him. I'm impressed.
I've totally done that before. Try mixing up the name of Egyptian Christendom's pope and a delicious Arab dish? Baba Shenuda vs. Baba Ganuush. I can't tell you how many times I did that before I finally fixed it.
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