It hasn't even been a week, and I'm already slacking on my posting. I have a slew of half-finished entries that I just need to paste into here, so I'm going to try and do it this morning, before we head out for the Egyptian Museum; which, according to Lonely Planet and everyone and their mother, is incredible. More on that later.
For now, I'll just post what I've been meaning to post, and put the appropriate date in the title heading.
Also, by popular demand I feel I should clear something up: when you see a "3" in a word, such as "3miya," it stands for this weird, throaty "a" that exists in the Arabic language. It's sort of a gargly, throat-constricting noise, very strange when you first hear it, very beautiful once you become accustomed to it, and unbelievably satisfying once you learn how to pronounce it yourself. One of the proudest moments of my life was a year and a half ago in Tunisia, when I was talking with my Arabic professor, Khalil, and said some word with an "3" in it. He looked at me admiringly, and exclaimed, "ya Carolyn...you have a beautiful 3!"
It was one of the proudest moments of my Arabic life.
For the sake of convenience, "3miya" can be pronounced "amiya." But for the sake of accuracy, and out of my deep-abiding love for the "3," I figured I would write it properly :)
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