Randomly on a Monday

1.        Today we learned how to ask for stuff.  I want, I need, give me, pass me, excuse me.  These phrases are extremely useful for shopping, eating in restaurants, and riding in taxis.  However, in Carrefour, where we generally stock up on water, crackers, pistachio yogurt, bananas, cheese, etc., we mostly wander the aisles until something looks like what we think we want.  “is this cheese?”  “No, can’t be cheese.  Doesn’t say ‘frumaj’.”  “Right.  Let’s keep looking.”

2.       We’ve forgotten to bring our grocery bags with us twice.  Today Jim carried six big bottles of water over his shoulder from Carrefour to home; we agreed to buy water from the Hanoot down the block from now on.

3.       Bread is very, very special here. 

4.       So is sugar.

5.       Ramadan ends in about 6 days.  Among other things, this means that restaurants (other than McDonalds, Burger King, Pizza Hut and Dominos) will be open earlier.  I am so excited for this.

6.       I cannot imagine surviving from sunup to sunset without food or water.

7.       Mohammed says men gain 15 kg during the month of fasting.

8.       Ladies, imagine cooking a feast every single evening for one month.

9.       Studying language makes me giddy.  Fatima or Mohammed will explain irregular conjugations or the feminine/masculine pairing in words which belong together (coffee-milk/pen-paper/wife-husband/desk-chair) and I think, “whoa.  This is brilliant” 

10.   Until we get home and are studying, and then it all looks messy.  Like, we just discussed how the word for ‘egg’ – ‘lbeid’ sounds a lot like the word for ‘white’ – ‘biyed’.  Oh, well.  We keep trying.