Language

I am enjoying the media attention to Obama saying "showkron." It reminds me of how few Arabic words I've learned in the past year. I can count them on one hand: Hello, finished, thank you and a term meaning, "That would be wrong... as in showing up drunk to church." Of course, the meaning of wrong here is seeing a man and woman kiss on TV. (While two guys holding pinkies walking down the steet or rubbing noses when they greet is perfectly acceptable.)

Tonight I realized that learning a little more Arabic might be helpful. I spent an hour trying to line up a truck to pick up garage sale furniture. No luck. Oh, the guys I spoke with wanted to do business they simply didn't understand me and my attempt to explain by playing charades simply didn't work.