Street Commentary

As I've mentioned in previous posts, it's quite hard to remain invisible on the streets. When I was here three years ago I used to call days that I didn't receive comments "ghost days" because I would feel like a ghost walking the sidewalks. I also gave designations for the different guys loitering on the streets. There were the "mannikins" - I would be walking down the street past a shop and then after I passed, would realize that the figure I had mistaken for a mannikin was actually a person. There were also the "parrots", those who were persistently repeating their "hello, how are you?" mantra.

Now that I've learned some of the language, a whole new window of amusement has opened for me. It's one thing to hear people trying to practice their English on you (i.e. my new favorite: the guy who passed by me today just saying "walking, walking"... 

...I really don't know what that was supposed to mean but somehow he managed to make it sound smarmy. I tried very hard not to laugh.) 

However, now I also get to hear the things that they don't expect me to understand. It can range from a group of little boys telling me in Arabic to give them money, a simple greeting that they laugh about afterwards thinking I don't understand, and once when my friend was walking down the street with me, simply: Banaat. Girls. Why yes, I do believe that we are, thank you for noticing. I once overheard a conversation about my friend and I, where a girl was saying in a conciliatory tone, "Well, the second one is pretty," implying of course that the first was not. Fairly certain I was the first one as my friend was looking quite adorable. It made me grin.

Ah yes, and I have two more to add to my List of Nationalities:

11. "Hello, señorita!" - I was so tempted to pull out my high school Spanish for this one but I was a good girl and held my tongue.
12. Enti alemaniyye?  - I suppose there is a German university not that far away from my city but that's the first time I've been mistaken for German.