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8:14 PM - Wednesday, April 6, 2016
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arabic
Arabic culture
cairo
egypt money
Egyptians
shopping
translation
For most of us Sundays are "fundays". Everybody wants to sleep, rest, and just generally wants to have a good time. However for us, we have to go to school on Sunday. Yes, it might seem weird, but in some Muslim countries the work week is from Sunday to Thursday. I know you might be feeling bad for us, but when think about it, it just makes Fridays two times better and Thursday not that bad of a day. The only bad part is that Saturday becomes like a Sunday...
Well, one Sunday I woke up, feeling how you guys feel on Mondays, but that wasn't the worst part. The worst part is that Sundays are my days that I make the breakfast in the house. Getting out early to buy supplies and being deprived my two hours of sleep in the morning is not my definition of a good day. Nevertheless I had to do it, so I got ready and went to ask money for the breakfast from my friend ( who handles the financial things), however this time he asked me to buy him some things also. He gave me 100 LE (Egyptian pounds). I told him that this was too much money for the things I was going to buy, but he said that it would be a good way to change the money (into smaller bills)
So I'm here, on Sunday (Monday) in an Arab country at the age of 14, and I barely know how to talk. Money in hand I walked to the store. "How hard could it be?" I asked myself, "all you have to do is just give the guy the money and he gives you the change and you leave." However I still had this thought that he would ask me something I wouldn't understand.
On the road I was thinking about what I would say to the worker there, and all of the situations and combinations that could happen. I walked worriedly, as I was newbie to Arabic. But didn't expect this would be one of my most embarrassing and confusing memories in Egypt.
Once I got there the man at the counter was already looking at me weird. I was worried that he would ask something I wouldn't understand. After I was done buying the eggs, bread and other breakfast materials, I went to the counter and gave him the 100 LE. He counted the total price of the products and asked "fekkah?" , it was a word I didn't know, I was trying to figure out what it could mean. Yes that was exactly what I worried for. After seeing that I clearly didn't understand, the man then showed me a one pound coin and said fekkah! Fekkah! Again. At that moment we were both trying to understand each other. I thought he was saying that I paid short. However on afterthought I thought that It couldn't be because 100 LE would be enough for all of the things I bought. So I told him that I paid him 100 LE. This time the guy got really mad (probably because I wasn't understanding that so simple, and that it was very early in the morning, or on second thought it was because it was Sunday). He whipped the coin that was in his hand into a box, this time he said angrily "fekkah!". I still couldn't understand, I thought that maybe he means that I can pay the rest of the price of the items later. So I left the money, took the bags and went out...
Lucky for me there was a kind old lady that called me back, this time they were both trying to make me understand. After a while the shop owner just gave up and gave me the change of 100 LE . I left embarrassed.
At home my friend asked me why I took so long. So I told him the story. I hardly kept myself from saying "told you see, I told you that 100 LE bill was too much". After my story was over he smiled and said "fekkah" means change...
(The shops here don't want to give exact change, if you paid for 15.50 LE with a 20 LE bill the guy would say "fekkah?" And you would give 50 piasters coin and he would give you back 5 LE...)
Well, one Sunday I woke up, feeling how you guys feel on Mondays, but that wasn't the worst part. The worst part is that Sundays are my days that I make the breakfast in the house. Getting out early to buy supplies and being deprived my two hours of sleep in the morning is not my definition of a good day. Nevertheless I had to do it, so I got ready and went to ask money for the breakfast from my friend ( who handles the financial things), however this time he asked me to buy him some things also. He gave me 100 LE (Egyptian pounds). I told him that this was too much money for the things I was going to buy, but he said that it would be a good way to change the money (into smaller bills)On the road I was thinking about what I would say to the worker there, and all of the situations and combinations that could happen. I walked worriedly, as I was newbie to Arabic. But didn't expect this would be one of my most embarrassing and confusing memories in Egypt.
Once I got there the man at the counter was already looking at me weird. I was worried that he would ask something I wouldn't understand. After I was done buying the eggs, bread and other breakfast materials, I went to the counter and gave him the 100 LE. He counted the total price of the products and asked "fekkah?" , it was a word I didn't know, I was trying to figure out what it could mean. Yes that was exactly what I worried for. After seeing that I clearly didn't understand, the man then showed me a one pound coin and said fekkah! Fekkah! Again. At that moment we were both trying to understand each other. I thought he was saying that I paid short. However on afterthought I thought that It couldn't be because 100 LE would be enough for all of the things I bought. So I told him that I paid him 100 LE. This time the guy got really mad (probably because I wasn't understanding that so simple, and that it was very early in the morning, or on second thought it was because it was Sunday). He whipped the coin that was in his hand into a box, this time he said angrily "fekkah!". I still couldn't understand, I thought that maybe he means that I can pay the rest of the price of the items later. So I left the money, took the bags and went out...
Lucky for me there was a kind old lady that called me back, this time they were both trying to make me understand. After a while the shop owner just gave up and gave me the change of 100 LE . I left embarrassed.At home my friend asked me why I took so long. So I told him the story. I hardly kept myself from saying "told you see, I told you that 100 LE bill was too much". After my story was over he smiled and said "fekkah" means change...
(The shops here don't want to give exact change, if you paid for 15.50 LE with a 20 LE bill the guy would say "fekkah?" And you would give 50 piasters coin and he would give you back 5 LE...)
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