Egyptian Arabic

Mr. Fathi, the boss of the restoration workshop, offers Leo a year's contract until next spring: sit down, your drawings are good, a whole year, until when exactly, God willing, my visa, the workshop does the papers, I want the job.

On the balcony in Heliopolis, Karim asks Leo what he is planning for his year in Cairo: to work at the workshop, to speak only Arabic in the evenings, to live in a flat of his own in Dokki, near the metro and the Nile.

Salma, Karim and Leo go through the flat adverts on their phones: what kind of flat do you need, a small one, furnished or not, furnished and quiet, here is one with two rooms near the metro, how much a month, twelve thousand pounds, I need a balcony too, call him now.

The landlord shows Leo two furnished rooms in a side street off the Dokki metro: come in, may I open the balcony, of course, may I hang my drawings, allowed but nails are not, and friends, friends are allowed and parties are not, I'll take it.

Leo leaves the Mansours' flat for Dokki: Madame Nadia hands him stuffed vine leaves and bread, call us every day, don't forget Friday lunch, and Sayed takes the suitcase, calls him engineer, take care of yourself, don't eat from the street.

Karim brings the last box up to the Dokki flat: do you like the flat, I like it, the balcony is lovely, and the street, quiet, Mum likes it too, she saw the photos, and you, I like it but it's far, half an hour by metro, come on Friday.

An older neighbour meets Leo on the stairs in Dokki: good morning, you're the new neighbour, you're not Egyptian, why are you in Cairo, because I work here, I restore old houses, and why Dokki, because the metro is near, and you speak Arabic, a little, that's why I live here.

Leo's first morning at the restoration workshop: we start at eight, you have to measure first and then draw, do I have to measure everything, the walls and the doors, do I have to wear the helmet, always, but you don't have to hurry, the house has been waiting three hundred years.

A felucca on the Nile at Dokki with Salma and Karim: where do you want to go, we want to see the sunset, please captain, Salma do you want to sit at the front, I want to sit by the water, Leo do you want tea, I want this every day, do you want music, we want quiet, just the Nile.

The workshop's carpenter, Leo's age, calls him to lunch: let's have lunch, engineer, are you hungry, I'm starving, let's eat beans on the corner, beans again, let's eat koshary, let's drink tea first, fine, let's go, let's sit outside, outside in May, let's sit inside, and let's speak only Arabic.

Karim visits Leo's flat in Dokki in June, the fan on: I'm hot, I'm hot too, is the fan broken, no it's working, I'm bored, tired of the heat, scared of the sea, why, Alexandria this weekend, not bored anymore.

At the kitchen table in Heliopolis, Salma, Karim and Leo fix the weekend in Alexandria: shall we go, when do we go, this Friday, I have a group, next Friday then, next Friday is fine, when do we come back, Saturday night, Sunday I work, next week.

At the ticket window at Ramses station Leo buys the Alexandria tickets: three tickets, two tickets please, for when, the eight o'clock train, one way or return, return after two days, two and a half hours, two seats by the window, the Standard Arabic announcement, platform four.

Salma and Leo walk the Corniche in Alexandria on a Saturday morning: where is the sea, look, what a sea, how beautiful the light is, how clean the air is, the weather is lovely, there is nothing like it, how beautiful, wait till you see the fort, let us walk slowly.

A fish restaurant on the harbour in Alexandria, with Karim and the waiter: a table for three, what would you like, what is best today, the sea bass is bigger, the mullet is tastier and cheaper, two mullet and a bream, grilled or fried, grilled is better, a bigger salad, the best salad in Alexandria.

On the sea wall of the fort of Qaitbay, Salma guides Karim and Leo: how old is the fort, five hundred years old, and the lighthouse, the lighthouse was older, how old are you, twenty-seven and you know it, Leo how old are you, twenty-nine, you look at old stones, the stones are beautiful.

Friday lunch in Heliopolis, Madame Nadia and Uncle Mahmoud asking about Alexandria: how are you, did you like Alexandria, I liked it very much, what did you like most, the sea most of all, the fish, grilled, the people, but Cairo is home.

At the workshop bench the carpenter teaches Leo and Mr. Fathi passes: good morning, can you lift this beam, I cannot, it is heavy, together, do you know how to use the chisel, I know how a little, show me slowly, like this, you can, can he, he can, he knows how to listen.

Grandma comes to see the work at the old house in al-Darb al-Ahmar and Leo shows her round: come in, is the house finished, not yet, the roof is done, the house is lovely, the big room, we are still working on it, my mother was born in this room, that is why, slowly is good.

The balcony in Heliopolis in late June, Karim, Salma and Leo planning the summer: summer in Cairo is hot, in summer Cairo is an oven, so where do we go, the Red Sea in August, in August I have groups, all summer, the second week in August, all of us, and in July, in July we work and dream of the sea.

Karim's car runs hot at a rest stop on the desert road to Hurghada: the car is hot, it's not broken, the engine light is on, the air conditioning isn't working, fine, tea, and we wait.

Leo checks in at a hotel on the sea in Hurghada: do you have a booking, two rooms from Saturday to Saturday, in what name, rooms on the sea on the second floor, breakfast from seven to ten, the pool from eight to sunset.

On the snorkelling boat off Hurghada the Captain gives the group its orders: put on the vests, jump from here, don't jump from there, is the water deep, don't be scared, don't touch the reef, swim to the reef and come back in an hour, and Leo's own don't to Karim.

Sugar-cane juice at a cafe on the marina in Hurghada after a day on the reef: have you ever seen fish like that, never in my life, have you ever been in the sea at night, once in Dahab, I've never eaten fish this fresh, I've never seen you this quiet, the sea makes you think.

Salma steps off the bus in Hurghada for her one week by the sea: here, I missed you two, we missed you too, did you miss me, I missed you very much, the museum didn't miss me, the sea missed you too.

Salma finds Leo on the beach before anyone is up: what do you love doing in the morning, I love swimming, the water is calm, I love sleeping, and yet you're here, I love walking on the sand before the heat, I love sitting by the water and talking, let's walk now and talk tonight.

Grilled fish on the hotel terrace in Hurghada, and Karim's question: why did you come to Egypt, to draw one house for a month, you stayed to work at the workshop, to learn Arabic, to eat Grandma's food, why did you stay a year, to see the sea in August with you two, only the sea?

The beach in Hurghada under the stars: do you like it here, I like it and I'm fond of you, fond of me since when, since the museum and the first day, I'm fond of you too, since the felucca on the Nile, let's sit by the sea a little.

Friday lunch in Heliopolis at the end of August, and Grandma has seen it all: you're happy today, I'm happy, the sea was beautiful, Salma is happy too, I'm old, my son, not blind, are you pleased, Madame Nadia, we're all pleased, eat, happy people eat too.

A felucca at sunset in the first days of September: a year ago you came for a month, a year ago not one word of Arabic, in a year I'll speak like you, next winter I have a group in Luxor and Aswan, can I come, come and carry the bags, next year the Nile all the way to Aswan, together.