I am getting far enough along in my Arabic program that I can now write paragraphs and short articles in Arabic. This one is about a trip taken with my university program to Sharm el-Sheikh. On the way, we stopped in St. Katherine’s and hiked Mount Sinai. In Sharm el-Sheikh, I had the opportunity to go snorkeling at Ras Muhammad.

في برنامج صيفتي, نرحل كل نهاية الأسبوع إلى أماكن متنوع في مصر. بعض الرحلات ليوم واحد فقط, و آخر رحلات لنهاية السبوع كلياً. كانت رحلة خلال نهاية الاسبوع قبل اثنين إلى شبه جزيرة سيناء. كانوا تسعون طالب من برنامجتي و آخر طلاب من الجامعة الامريكية في القاهرة في أوتوبيسين اثنان.

تركنا من الجامعة في يوم الخميس في الساعة الوحد, و نحن أكلنا غداء في الأوتوبيس الذي تكونّ منه سندويتشات و شريخة خضر و قطعة فاكهة و علبة كوكا كولا.

سانت كاترين

كانت طية الأولة دير سانت كاترين حيث نزلنا في فندق. وصلنا في الساعة الثامن, ثم أكلنا عشاء الذي تكونّ منه بوفيه. بعد ذلك نمت مبكراً لأننا يجبنا أن نصحا مبكراً جداً في الصباح من أَجْلِ أَنْ نتسلقَ قمًة الجنوب سيناء و نشاهدَ الشروق. كنتُ على الأقدام لجزء الطريق إلى القمّة, فركبت جمل على آخر الجزء. و وصلنا إلى القمّة قبل الشروق بنصف ساعة الذي كان جميل جداً.

رجعنا إلى الفندق في الساعة الثمانية و أكلنا فطار. ثم ذهبنا إلى الدير لجولة و متحف. بعد ذلك رجعنا إلى الفندق. كنتُ تعبانة جداً ونتيجة لذلك أخذت غفوة ثم تركنا من سانت كاترين إلى شرم الشيخ.

شرم الشيخ

وصلنا بعد بثلاثة ساعات إلى الفندق في شرم الشيخ. نظراً لأنَّي كنت تعبانة جداً, لم أفعل كثير في المساء. أكلت عشاء فمشيت حول وسط المدينة و أنا أستكشفت و تصفحها المحلات

ثم في يوم السبت, صحت في الساعة المابع و كلت فطار في مطعم الفندق. بعد ذلك ذهبت إلى الشاطئ حيث سبحت في البحر قليلاً. كان الماء دافئ و واضح جداً. فجلست على الشاطئ قليلاً ثم رجعت إلى غرفة فندقي لالاستحمام. ذهبت إلى الشاطئ ثانيةً في بعد الظهر لكني بم أسبح في لابحر. ثم بعد العشاء, مشيت حول شرم الشيخ مع أصدقاء و نحن نتمتع بالهواء نظيف و ضافئ و نتطلع في كل شخص و نسمع إلى موسيقى.

صحتُ مبكراً في يوم الأحد حبَّى أذهبَ إلى رأس محمد التي محميتها طبيعية لغوص. هذا جزء أحسن لرحلة لأن كانت السمك و الشعاب المرجانيه مدهشة و جميلة جداً. ثم رجعنا إلى الفندق حيث جبنا أن نلقي أوتوبيس لرحلة العودة إلى القاهرة.

I have now been in Cairo for a few days and am adjusted. Yesterday, we had orientation for the Arabic program at AUC. I’m familiar with where everything is on campus, and what to expect with the program. I will be placed at the intermediate level for Fusha (MSA), which is what I hoped for. I will also have a course on colloquial Egyptian Arabic, and other courses/activities.

Today is Jumah (Friday), which is the weekend here. During the afternoon, I went for a walk around Zamalek, found a local grocery store, and figured out where other things are. It’s not so easy to find one’s way here, since the streets follow no logical pattern. We got mixed up coming back and used some Arabic to get directions, including فين (feyn) - where, يمين (yamin) - right; شمال (shamal) - left; طول (tool) - straight or على طول (alaa tool) - straight ahead.

In the evening, I got experience with taking cab rides and dealing with paying the fares. I went with a group to downtown, to take a ride on a felucca - this is the arabic word for a small, wooden sail boat. The word for a regular boat is مركب (markib). Anyway, we know how much the cab fare is for going that distance, and gave the cab driver that amount. When we got out, he argued with us, wanting 2-3 times the normal price. The thing to do is just walk away. That’s how it works here.

After the felucca ride, we went to an Egyptian restaurant (مطعم - mata’m) where I had a vegetable (خضار - khudar) dish with rice (أرز - aruz). I’m used to saying “shukran” - شكرا (thank you) very often. The food was good (كويس - kwayis) and delicious (لذيذ - laziz). Then we asked for the bill. (ممطن الفابورة, لو سمحت - momkin el-fatoora, low samaht) We walked around the Tahrir Square area, looking at the shops. Though the area was very crowded, so we went back.

This was my first full day in Cairo, most of which I spent getting oriented with my neighborhood (Zamalek) and the area around the university campus in downtown Cairo. There are numerous shops and restaurants in Zamalek, including a regular coffee shop nearby that also serves sandwiches and other items. As well, there are two coffeeshops down the street from the university campus, though there are options for eating and getting coffee within campus. A shuttle bus takes me between Zamalek and the university campus.

The American University in Cairo is located in downtown Cairo, near Tahrir Square. The university buildings are not all connected and located together. Instead, there are two “campuses” located down the street from each other. The university is well-protected with security and ID checks when coming in. While at the university this afternoon, I was able to get registered and was placed in the intermediate level.

I am having some difficulty with speaking, due to significant differences in spoken colloquial Egyptian Arabic and the Modern Standard Arabic that I have been learning. For now, I have a small pocket dictionary with Egyptian colloquial to assist me, and slowly getting the hang of it. When courses start, one of them will be focused on colloquial Arabic, so I should get much better at it soon.

I have been extremely busy during the past few weeks, with moving out of my place in the U.S. and preparing for the summer program at the American University in Cairo.

I left “yesterday” - June 2 in the late afternoon/early evening from Washington, D.C. Then, I arrived in London at 11 a.m. (local time) on June 3, where I had a layover of a few hours. Then boarded an EgyptAir flight around 4:00 pm, which was a tad late departing. We arrived here by 10 pm, but there is a 2 hour time difference from London, so that flight was really only 4 hours long.

My flight from London was on a huge jumbo jet — a Boeing 777-200. As always, I expected we would end up deboarding through a jetway and into the airport. That’s not how they deboard here. Even with huge jumbo jets, we got to walk down stairs, onto the tarmac, and onto a shuttle bus that took us to the terminal. It appears they do things this way for nearly all flights, at least from what I could tell from all the planes (of various sizes) on the tarmac. I have done this in the U.S. with tiny commuter flights/aircraft, but this was different. But, once into the terminal, things were very easy and I did not need to walk far.

Coming through immigration and customs was extremely easy, as I already obtained my visa ahead of time. The officials briefly looked my passport and let me go, and I didn’t have to stop at customs. I thought they might want all my computer equipment items documented, to have a list to check against when I leave. Taxes on electronics in Egypt are very high, and they don’t want people sneaking stuff in and selling it here. But, in my situation, they didn’t care and I made it through immigration and customs very quickly.

I had a ride from the airport to where I am staying in Cairo, though it was a long ride. In Egypt and much of the Middle East, the way people drive is MUCH different, with disregard for any traffic laws and safety. People zip in and out, cut each other off, don’t stay within the lane markings, they go fast, and using headlights is optional at night. So, it’s not a huge surprise that there was a traffic accident on the highway, into the city from the airport. There was a very long backup on the highway, but I finally got to my place in Cairo after midnight (June 4).

For a few days, I am on travel for my job. I am in New Orleans and arrived here yesterday. When I got a cab (taxi) at the airport, the driver (سائق - sa’iq) was from the Middle East. So, I was able to say “thank you” (شكرا - shukran) in Arabic, which certainly he wasn’t expecting. Then, I was able to say some other things, in a mix of colloquial Egyptian (when I knew what to say) or otherwise I used the standard Arabic. I don’t think he was from Egypt (I think he was from Bahrain, judging by the newspaper he was reading), but the Egyptian dialect is pretty well understood thanks to popularity of Egyptian films.
I explained that I was on a business trip (أسافر في شغل - isafar fi shughal), and that I was here for a few days (”ha’ud ka zayohm”), which is Egyptian colloquial. In standard Arabic, a few days is عدة أيام - “ada ayam”.
I also was able to explain why I knew or was learning Arabic:
أدرس العربية لأن سأسفار إلى مصر هذا صيف

This translates as saying “I am studying Arabic, because I will be traveling to Egypt this summer.” Then, I was able to say “shukran. da a’la shehnak” - this means in colloquial Egyptian Arabic, “thanks, this is for you” (my cab fare and tip)

I’m sure I wasn’t speaking perfect Arabic, but did pretty well I think. The driver wasn’t sure that I could speak English, which of course I can, but he understood what I said in Arabic and I could understand him. In all, this was great practice and helps in building my confidence. I am somewhat hesitant to speak up in Arabic, because I know my vocabulary, grammar, and grasp of colloquial Arabic is still limited.

This is a song by Tamer Hosny, Yara, Ramy Ayash, Ganat, and Haytham Shaker, called أمي ثم أمي (My mother, and then, my mother). Like many songs, this one is sung in Egyptian colloquial dialect, which helps to highlight differences in Egyptian colloquial and Modern Standard Arabic.

Here are the lyrics for the first line:

بعد الحب ده ايه الى تعمل كل ده تستاهل ايه بعد الحب ده ايه الى تدى حنان كده من غير حساب نبوس التراب الى مشيه عليه

With these words, the first line of the song roughly translates as:

“After this love
What does she does all of this deserve
After this love, what
She who gives affection like this without asking for anything in return;
We kiss the ground she walks upon”

Another site that I have found very useful is http://www.arabicmusictranslation.com/, which has lyrics to songs in Arabic, with translations to English.

Songs include different types of phrases, some that are used in day-to-day speech. Many of the songs are also sung in a dialect (often Egyptian colloquial). For example, the phrase ايه يعني (aaya ya’ni) which translates as “so what?” in English.

The person behind the Arabic lyrics site recently started a second web site, http://egyptianarabiccourse.blogspot.com/ where he focuses on the Egyptian colloquial dialect with examples from song and more detailed explanations of the lyrics. This looks very useful, since colloquial is the day-to-day spoken language and is essential to learn these types of phrases.

In my class, I am learning Modern Standard Arabic, which is the formal way of speaking. It is used in the news media, in formal or business situations, giving a conference presentation, etc. However, on the streets of Cairo, the local dialect spoken is quite a bit different. When I get to Egypt and speak standard Arabic, people will understand but it may sound funny to them. So, as I am learning standard Arabic, I am also paying attention to how things are different in Egyptian colloquial.

Differences start with pronunciation of some letters, particularly the ق (qaf) which is instead pronounced as a “glottal stop”. In standard Arabic, one would say قهوة (qahua) for “coffee”, but in the Egyptian dialect, it is ‘ahua.

Another difference is when asking where something is. In standard Arabic, you would say أينَ الحمام؟ (ayna al-hamam) - “where is the bathroom?”. The question word in the Egyptian dialect is “feyn”, so you would ask “feyn al-hamam”. Another word for bathroom in the Egyptian dialect is تواليت (twalit), which obviously is a borrowed word from English.

When I started learning Arabic a year ago, the first thing I got was a pocket travel phrase book / dictionary. It has proved very useful, allowing me to learn some of the most practical, everyday words and things useful for a traveler to know. The pocket phrase book that I have has the standard Arabic spelled out in Arabic script, but it also gives the colloquial words, helping familiarize myself with how colloquial and standard Arabic differ.