Wala Ala Balo

OK SO.  This afternoon I was on my computer, doing nothing in particular, probably watching another episode of "Sex and the City," cus, ummmm I'm hooked since last week.  I don't know why, really.  The show is...not the best.  But, I'm addicted to Carrie's wardrobe, and I find myself looking forward to the next episode just to see what she wears.  
Like for instance (before I get into the real purpose of this post) today in Season 4 Episode 11, Carrie and Samantha were just walking down 5th Avenue, minding their own beeswax, talking about one sexual position after another,  and meanwhile Carrie's sporting this blinggggg gold Allah chain, and I'm like, "uhhhhhhh is that allowed??"  but, it's totally allowed in Carrie's world.  She can wear anything, anytime, and look totally hot while she's wearing it.  I'm envious, to say the least.  So despite the lackluster dialogue that takes place among those women, you'll see me tuning in to Itunes for the remainder of the seasons.  


Back to my original plan.  


It's really interesting how many people we know without really thinking about how we know them until all of a sudden their presence in our lives becomes handy.  Like for instance, this afternoon.
I'm watching "Sex and the City" when I remembered that Rosa Rad hadn't sent me my "arabic-word-of-the-day" recently.  


Last semester, Rosa started messaging different Arabic words everyday, and we would have fun pretending that we knew how to speak fluently (Rosa's reading this right now going, "PRETENDING????").  So, by the end of the semester, I had a random collection of words that really had nothing to do with one another and that I couldn't really put together in a cohesive way.  So, I randomly would say things like, "ahlan wa sahlan ya rosa, i like to drink shaay eat dajaaj and enti sahiba!"  That means, "hi rosa, I like to drink tea, eat chick and you are my friend."  

Only, that's what that means to me and Rosa.  See, when I tried to "speak" Arabic to my Arab friends, they all looked at me like I was crazy.  And then I would look at them, laugh, and start singing, "Enta hayaattiii, enta habbiiiibbbiii" and then they would start laughing. 


So, I asked her to send me my word, and meanwhile, I organized all the words she had sent me into a nice word document.  And then I wrote out a message for my friend, Nivin, and posted it on her facebook wall comprised of everything I "knew" how to say in Arabic.  It said, 

"ahlan wa sahlan ya nivin, ana ismii Ranna. kifak, hayati? ana bekhair. ana fila3n saeedah. leemadha? leeana enti jameela. ana askon fi al-walayat al-motahidah al-amrikiyah fi washington dc. naam. anjaat! habibti, enti taalibah. kayfah? enti fi al-maktabah kol yown! fila3n? aynah, sahiba? ana oheb dajaaj, haleeb, shay wa lahm. naam naam. OK, la a3rif."

This literally translates into, "Hi Nivin.  My name is Ranna.  What's up?  I am fine.  I am very happy.  Why?  Because you are pretty good looking.  I live in the United States of American in Washington DC.  Yes.  Really!  You are a student.  How?  You are in the library every day!  Truly?  Where, my friend?  I like chicken, milk, tea, and meat.   Yes, yes.  OK, I'm sorry." 


I thought it was pretty funny.  I laughed.  So did Rosa. 


But then Nivin wrote back.  And she wrote:   "

rana saeedi 2nti wa7deh khalsa 3al akheer . wlaik shou mshan??? hahhaha 7abait 7abaaaaaaait"

And that's when I was like, "hold up, whaaaaattttttt?"  I write to you about how I like chicken, and all of a sudden, you're busting out with your straight thuggin Syrian slang talk?  Ummm have you no mercy??? 
So here's where it got tricky. 


I gchatted Rosa and was like, "homegirl, you have to help a sister out.  What does this mean?"  
And she was like, "Uhhhh I fail, Ranna, I have no idea."  
So we tried to decipher it word for word, but that didn't work because 1. I get all my words from Rosa 2. Rosa didn't know those words.  So we were like, what to do, what to do, what to do??  


Meanwhile, lil Miss Palindrome (Nivin, get it? It's a palidrome.  So cool, right?  if only my name was Rannar) sends me another comment, " bs 7loueh mnaik ya rana ;) 3ateeha 3arabi min 3andik ;)"  as if one comment isnt enough....


So Rosa and I are like, OK we know a lot of people, lets just ASK SOMEONE!  not as easy as it sounds.  Turns out, we know quite a few Arabs  but 1.Most of them werent on gmail chat or facebook chat when we really needed them 2. the ones that were, weren't our number one choices.  
But.  We had to.  We had to know what these things meant!  Oh, by the way, I'm using, "we" because it really was "we,"  I mean, Rosa is my partner in matters relating to Arabic language and culture.  She sends me daily texts about her encounters with Arabs, only bringing us one step closer to our main goal in life...to become Arabs. 


So, I asked this Palestinian girl I rarely ever talk to and she was like, "oh it means...."  I dont even remember because IT DIDNT MAKE ANY SENSE!  And Rosa asked this Syrian guy who was like, "basically she's calling Ranna crazy."  


Which made us laugh....but that's not all.  Rosa, ladies and gents, made a friend tonight, this Syrian guy, Adam?  Was that his name?  Adam reads Rosa's blog (AND SO SHOULD YOU), and he's like, "yo Rosa, I'm hella entertained by your blog," so Rosa TOTALLY loses sight of the problem at hand (the translation) and starts to talk to her new friend about OTHER THINGS NOT PERTAINING TO THIS.  


And then we gave up.  But not before I asked my other Syrian friend, who lives in Syria.  WHO IS IN SYRIA RIGHT NOW, haha, what it meant.  And she still gave me this answer that I didn't quite understand, but at least I got the gist of it?  


  What I really wanted to put across with this post is that it's funny how we meet all of these people and a lot of the time we don't even think about knowing them.  I mean, it's so easy these days to meet someone for an instant, hop onto facebook and "friend" them, without thinking about it, and we will remain friends until the day one of us decides, "ok, who is this person, and why am i his friend?"  whereby we will "de-friend" them.  It's sad, really.
  I felt bad asking those people tonight for the translation.  In a way, I really felt like a user and an abuser.  I mean, I literally was like, "Hiiiiiii (insert name here) how are you?  Could you do my a favor?  Do you think you could translate this for me?"  And then right when they gave me their answer I was all, "OK SEE YA!"  But it had to be done.  
But then, is that what all these networking sites are all about?  I mean, are we allowed to friend people with whom we're not very close, just for the purpose of having them in our lives JUST IN CASE we have to translate Arabic into English?  Maybe I shouldn't have gone through that defriending spree a couple months ago...hmmm.....


Well, in any case, I'm still waiting to actually figure out what she meant by those messages, but, it's not all bad, I did help rekindle Rosa's friendship with Adam.  I hope they're happy speaking Arabic with one another, while I'm left wondering what the hell, "3ateeha 3arabi min 3andik ;)" means.  


Just kidding, Roses, you know its all love here.  Behebbak, habibti.  Shokran, Afwan.  


ma'asalamaa (goodbye)