I just wanted to let you know that it isnt just my friend Rajh the Office Boy that struggles with language...it's me as well. As I said in the comments before, "Now I know how my inlaws feel when I try to speak Arabic" haha
So, where Rajh has to struggle with Arabic and English...my only issue is Arabic. While I am sure he and i will have our "language issues" for a while, we are both going thru the same issue with the language gap being in a different country than our own. We are "kindred souls" so to speak...haha With that being said..... here you go....A couple of First Wife stories.....Enjoy
***Note to self....New Years Resolution... LEARN ARABIC!! : )
When you are eating at with the family on Friday after Juma...the food is never ending. My mother in law will keep adding more and more to your plate. Mashallah! Really....the 25lbs I put on is with the help of Friday lunches...hahaha
Mother in law..... Yallah! --------------------------------------------(this is the Arabic she speaks that I dont understand..)
Me: La La....Shukran (No thank you)
Mother in law..Nam nam... (yes, yes) as she piles more on my plate...
Me: Trying to remember what "I am full means in Arabic" I say, "Shamballa".... They look at me like I am speaking Chinese
Me again: Shamballa
At this point, I realize that I have gotten it wrong and they are all looking at me like...awww how cute...lol
To this day they wont tell me the real way to say it...hahah So if anyone of you out there know, please fill me in... :)
lol @ shamballa hehehehe. Love it!
ReplyDeleteSo I see you wont tell me the real way to say it either hu?? lol
ReplyDeletelol i always tease my moroccan husband about the ritual moroccan have when they greet one another...
ReplyDeleteSalaam Alaikum
La baas (how are you)
Alahmdulillah...something something
something something... lol
it takes like 2 minutes to get through the hi, how are you and your family, etc...
LOOOOL Yep, same here...
ReplyDeleteSalam Alaikum
Jzak bar
shlonic zain
alhumdulliah....something someting...hahah
Soooo funny!!
btw, im full is "Shabaana" =) I too am learning arabic (my inlaws speak arabic and spanish but mosly just arabic at home)
ReplyDeleteOMG Rene!! THANK YOU!!! Shabaana, shabanna...over and over in my head until i rember it...LOL
ReplyDeleteShukran shukran!
oh and i know what you mean about the weight gain! My MIL cooks amazing dishes and even when i have eaten enough to burst she is still trying to get me to eat more. They actually get concerned that i dont eat enough lol. to them, you only eat a lot when you eat a lot of meat (which i dont like to eat that often) so i could eat loads of bread and side dishes, couscous, etc and still not have eaten anything in their eyes =)
ReplyDeleteFunny!!! ..the same used to happen to me whenever I visited my dear Egyptian friend... years ago... her mother used to do the same thing!!! Until one day she just looked at me and said "...you know, you DON'T have to eat it!!!.. we just HAVE TO put it on your plate"!!! LOL... I thanked her profusely and gave her a big hug!!! She knew me well.. and we are like sisters, so I guess that meant I was just like 'part of the family' and not just a guest... lol :D
ReplyDeleteSo let her pile it up... say "Shabaanah" and eat what you can!! :D
If you need more arsenal for those "food floods," you can also say, "al hamdul'Illah, kefayyah" (kefayyah means enough/sufficient) or, "shukran, wa bas, khallaas." (thanks but that's enough, leave it) This is all khaleeji slang, lol.
ReplyDeleteI found that I was ignored most of the time, so I needed different ways of saying the same thing, so I could just keep on saying it and finally get the message across. It got like a phobia with me, dreading eating at anyone's house because I'd face such pressure to stuff myself - sort of killing us with kindness in the form of food!
You and me both lol. I need to learn Arabic! I only know like some words/phrases but nothing great. Just stuff I pick up in songs like habibi, ya eini, etc. lol
ReplyDeletePlus it's hard getting the perfect pronunciation. Especially with 'ain. Usually it's the Q, KH, and GH sound everyone has problems with, but not for me. Just that damn 'ain sound LOL
I found this really cool site, and thought of you when I came across it. You can type in most English or Arabic words, and it will give you the meaning and how to say it!
ReplyDeletewww.islamic-dictionary.com