Egyptian Arabic

Giza station at nine at night, the sleeper to Luxor with Salma's group: did you bring your passport, I brought it and the tickets, did you forget anything, I forgot my charger, I didn't drink coffee.

Six in the morning, the sleeper pulling into Luxor: how was the night, it was long and the bed was narrow, were you cold, there was a man snoring, there was no hot water, look, there's the Nile.

The group's hotel in Luxor: the rooms are ready, twelve rooms and the keys please, I used to come here every winter, I used to run around and my father used to go to the temples, breakfast is from six.

Karnak at eight in the morning, before the crowds: bigger than any temple, bigger than the pyramids, taller than my house, older than Chicago by three thousand years, how much time do we have, less than two hours.

The Luxor bazaar, a scarf for Madame Nadia: come in, the best shop in Luxor; the best or the most expensive; the cheapest in the bazaar; how much is the most beautiful one; three hundred, for you two hundred; a hundred and seventy, and it's the best.

The Valley of the Kings with the group, Leo's first tomb: have you ever gone into a tomb, never in my life, I've come here maybe fifty times, have you ever seen colours like these, that's why I love my work.

A felucca at Aswan with a Nubian captain: where did you come from today, we came by train and it took three hours, how long did you stay, we stayed three days, the group went to the hotel, we'll sail till the sun goes down, forty years with his father.

Hibiscus tea in a Nubian house across the water from Aswan: sit, the tea is ready; Aswan is as warm as summer, and here it's like spring; this tea is the same as Grandma's; hibiscus, different from yours, with more sugar; your house is much prettier; is Nubian the same as Arabic.

Philae temple at evening, waiting for the boat back: how did you become a guide; one day my father took me to the Museum; first I got lost, then a guide found me; were you scared; he told me about the mask for an hour; in the end my father found me, and I had decided.

The last morning in Aswan, on the corniche: have you packed; not yet, the hotel hasn't brought the laundry yet; the group is already in the lobby; I'm still here, with you and the Nile; did you pay for the tea already; already paid; have you taken a photo of us, or not yet.

The morning after Leo missed the museum gate, Salma calls: where were you, I was going to come at six, you came at half past eight, my phone died, I was going to call you, I meant to, forgive me, not today.

The museum garden at closing time, the quarrel: I waited at the gate an hour and a half, I was working the whole time, you didn't even send a message, not once, last month you were late as well, you weren't late, you didn't come, you're right.

A flower shop in Zamalek with Karim: you should have called her, my phone was dead, you should have borrowed one, I should have left early, what are you looking for, flowers for someone angry, then red roses, give me all of them.

The Qasr el-Nil bridge at sunset, making up: I was wrong, forgive me, yes you were wrong, you were very angry, I was angry because I was worried about you, I was tired and hungry and stupid, you're right, give me the flowers already.

The first evening of Ramadan at the Mansours' table in Heliopolis: Ramadan greetings, the lantern is for you, when do we eat, when the cannon fires, when I came in I smelled the soup, when Grandma cooks the building smells it, start with a date, eat and talk after.

Madame Nadia's kitchen before the meal, Grandma's Ramadan in the village: before we ate we ran to the roof, after we ate we drank tea at the door, before I married my mother cooked, after I married I cooked for twenty, before you came we were ten, after we eat I'll wash the dishes.

The building's entrance in Heliopolis, Sayed hanging the Ramadan lanterns on the stairs: did you fast today, I fasted, till four I managed, after four I couldn't, I drank a glass of water, tomorrow you'll manage, did you manage to hang the lanterns, I'll hold the ladder, together we'll manage.

The evening meal at the Mansours': Salma brings her friend Mona, and Karim will not put down the bread: this is Mona, how long have you been in Cairo, two years now, since when have you been friends, since the first day of school, take more soup, Karim has been standing with the bread for ten minutes, since Mona came in.

Two in the morning, the late-night meal at a cafe by al-Hussein with Karim and Salma, and the lights go out: suddenly the lights went out, don't worry, something fell in the kitchen, a tray fell and two glasses broke, everybody is eating, Egypt doesn't stop, the lights came back by themselves, three more teas and the bill.

The last evening of Ramadan at the family table, Uncle Mahmoud's story: how did you meet Madame Nadia, I was working in the shop and it was very hot, a teacher came in and asked for blue cloth, he showed me every colour except blue, she came back the next day, on the third day he asked her name, and I said marry her.

The morning of the Feast at the Mansours': Leo brings cookies, and he and Karim have decided on the Fayoum: decided, agreed, chose, Uncle Mahmoud's car and the day with less traffic.

Uncle Mahmoud's car on the desert road to the Fayoum, the whole city ahead of them: we left at seven, we got out of Cairo at nine, we arrived in an hour and a half, we'll arrive in three, and the lake in front of us.

A potter's workshop in Tunis village, in the Fayoum: the pots made this morning, the son who paints them, the blue the Fayoum is famous for, the bowl that has a fish on it, and the one next to it, a gift.

A fisherman grills his morning's catch by Lake Qarun: while you eat I'll tell you, while we were coming we saw it, saltier than the sea, when I was small the water was up to here, and the fish caught while you were still asleep.

An evening by Lake Qarun, Karim's phone finally down: who talked to you for an hour, that was Mona, it turned out she works next to my office, it turned out she takes the same metro, how did you find out, it turns out Cairo is small.

At the workshop in al-Darb al-Ahmar, Mr. Fathi sends Leo to Luxor for a week: have you been to Luxor before, once with Salma's group, you'll go again, this time for work, an old house on the West Bank, go Monday on the night train, the first time I saw temples.

The old house on the West Bank of Luxor with its owner: my grandfather built it a hundred years ago, my father lived in it long ago, the roof fell last year in the winter rain, the door broke two months ago, and the walls will stand another hundred years.

Luxor station at ten at night: the announcement in Standard Arabic, the conductor and the ticket, I've just got on, the train is just leaving, dinner in half an hour, what time do we arrive, you'll be asleep and then awake with the tea.

In the sleeper's compartment a fellow passenger from Luxor asks the classic questions: where are you from, you speak Arabic like this, I was born and grew up in Chicago, I've been here two years, I studied architecture and graduated, I became a restorer of old houses, what brought you to Egypt.

Ramses station at seven in the morning, Salma on the platform, then lunch at the family table: how was Luxor, the project is mine, your first project, my season starts next week, in two years I learned to speak, to get upset and to make up, and Mona is coming to lunch.