Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Speaking A Foreign Language In Egypt

Yesterday I went to visit my friend who lives on the other side of Alexandria , about one hour drive from where I live. I took the microbus like usual. 5 minutes later a girl and a guy climbed in. They looked like any ordinary Egyptian couple. A short, veiled girl and a tall, tanned guy in a pullover. She was talking on the phone and that is also normal, as 99% of girls call their moms to tell them they're coming back home. They sat in front of me, I didn't pay much attention to them, but then I thought I heard the girl speaking a foreign language, switch back to Egyptian, then foreign again. I listened carefully and she was speaking French !! Yes, Egyptians study French in school as a third language, and there are thousands of French literature students in Egyptian Universities, but they all can not speak a word of French!!
She must be majoring in it in university, but the funny thing is, she was speaking it in a very heavy Egyptian accent. If you thought Egyptian English is funny, wait 'til you hear this one !!! I could barely make a word or two. Anyway, she kept talking for a really long time, about 30 minutes, and people were annoyed with her. She was loud, laughed in a disrespectful manner, and was obviously showing off. Her male companion just sat there looking out the window. He paid the fee and here is where his role ended. Well not quite, he also signaled the driver to stop when they wanted to get off. She stepped out, still yapping, hooked up to his arm and walked away. There were not a few insulting comments from the drivers and his passengers later.