Shopping

Near my house is a small Middle Eastern convenience store. I visited the store once before my trip, but I was not impressed.

Today I decided to give the store another chance. Now that I have more experience with Lebanese groceries, I thought that I might do better.

When I entered, I heard a customer talking to the storeowner in Arabic. Although I did not know what they were saying, it quickly became clear to me that they were Lebanese and discussing Israel and the Palestinian Territories. At one point, the customer stated: “. . . yanni, from one bullsh*! to another . . . .” For some reason, this really cracked me up.

Normally, I hate it when people say yanni. “Yanni” is basically the Lebanese word for “um.” According to my teacher, it actually means “this means.” But the word is overused and is just annoying. (Bill thought that saying yanni made him sound more authentic, so it was his favorite word. Yikes!) I think I found yanni funny today though because of the English that followed it. And perhaps absence, yanni, makes the heart grow fonder.

Lastly, I did have a better shopping experience. I got a great deal on salt and tomato paste. I also picked up some tea which, fingers crossed, will be the same Lipton I had in Beirut. And if Bill’s really lucky, I may even make lentil soup for dinner.

The Trouble with Trash Talk

Feeling like a hipster shortly after our return from Lebanon, I challenged my Iraqi-American nieces and nephews to an Arabic writing competition this Ramadan. At the time I threw down my glove, I was feeling pretty good about writing in Arabic. I mean, I had bought back special calligraphy pens from Beirut. But now that I have been back a few weeks, and have not practiced writing at all, I am starting to question my decision.

I just looked at my calendar, and there are ten days until Ramadan begins. This means that I have ten days to seriously get busy studying or I risk losing my street cred. Wish me luck!