Life in third person

Niña

Cuatro y medio 

Casi cinco meses

Tiene cinco meses

Si muy linda

Si ella es muy feliz

No llora mucho

Está durmiendo

Yeah, it is hard, actually

Qué clase de amigo?
What kind of friend?

Sí, es mi marido!
Yes, he's my husband!

Hijo de puta!
Son of a bitch!

I thought it would be hard to watch Head-On dubbed in Spanish. (I failed to find the second half with English subtitles, or even just in the original German and Turkish). Instead, to my dismay, watching the movie in Spanish was easy.

I haven't spoken Spanish in years, and I used it for less than a year in total, but I could follow the conversations just fine.

Wah. I've been living in Turkey for four months now, and basic phone conversations in Turkish still scare me. I can't follow native speakers when they talk together. I can't enjoy a local movie. I can barely read news headlines.

I generally espouse the beauty of Turkish grammar, the clean lines of its pronunciation, and the memorability of its words. When people say, "Oh, Turkish is so hard!" I quickly point out that it uses the same alphabet at English and that it lacks almost any exceptions (screw you, French). I don't like to succumb to the weary intonation: "Turkish is hard."

But, yeah, it is hard, actually.

A way of traveling

LA FELICIDAD NO ES UNA ESTACIÓN DE LLEGADA, SINO UN MODO DE VIAJAR.

(Something like, "Happiness is not a destination, but a way of traveling.")

--In lettering in front of the Faith Fellowship Baptist Church, which I pass three times a week as I am bussing to work.

mejor aquí

Tengo una amiga que se llama Alaina, que una vez me dijo que para ella, el español es un idioma seguro. Nadie ha gritado a ella en español. Nadia ha hecho daño en español.

Esta noche, corrí diez kilómetros y yo sólo escuchaba música en español. Yo quería un lugar seguro. A veces inglés no puede ofrecer eso.

Chatting

Nidalha

hey!!

10:11pm

Me

hey!!

comment vas tu??

10:12pm

Nidalha

whats up?

well thank u

10:12pm

Me

not much

are you in tetouan?

10:12pm

Nidalha

ya

and u?

10:13pm

Me

yeah

we should meet up!

10:13pm

Nidalha

peut etre apre demain je vais voyager a agadir

10:13pm

Me

apres demain!?!

10:13pm

Nidalha

so tomorow if u wante

10:14pm

Me

donc, nous devons rejoindre

oui

je vais manger a la union

a 1.30 ou 2H

ca marche pour toi?

10:15pm

Nidalha

non parce que je serais a inba

4hok?

10:16pm

Me

oui

ou?

10:16pm

Nidalha

ok

cool

10:16pm

Me

donde?

10:16pm

Nidalha

le voyage bien passé?

10:17pm

Me

oui, absolutement

mais 4H demain...fayn?

10:18pm

Nidalha

f cafe paris

10:18pm

Me

bon!

10:18pm

Nidalha

cool

10:18pm

Me

a demain, et je dirai alaina, aussi

10:19pm

Nidalha

ouiiii

c bon

10:19pm

Me

coooool

ciao ciao

10:19pm

Nidalha

bslama

thlay frask

10:20pm

Me

haha

10:20pm

Nidalha

ossalmi 3a alaina

biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiz

Texts from the last month

King will be out walking at 2 we just heard. Where we do not know. I will head to moham V soon to see.

Avatar en español a las 6.30 en avenida? Bghiti?

Yees!ok. bon jeudi viens me chercher au beaux arts 1 heur que tu veus.avec ton usb pour te donner les fotos.bon8. coucou a american spay.lol

Alyawm adars fi 3

Hi mary. Mr hisham said that we will meet tmrw at 4 bcz he will be busy of Friday..have gd dreams.

Wakha

Maroc Telecom Vous Souhaite Aid Moubarak Said.

They sleep stil, come by here at 11.00

Slt!mais je peu pa anulé les fille ont programé pr ce samedi tu peu faire la féte laprem avk tn ami je compte sur toi a 19h30 ne me laisse pa tombé

Hey can u buy laundry detergent on the way home? Omo kabir.

Shuks bzef!

Ok-Super-On se retrouve a Inba.

Clothes are drying! As for floors, ghadda insha allah…

67cm by 120cm, 5mm thick—Edges rounded. Asap, we need the palette.

Salam.Nous allons au Hamam D hajar vers10Hdemain. Tu viens aussi?

Zahr

Alaina realized tonight that the Spanish azar comes from the Arabic zahr, meaning chance or luck. 

e.g. Ma aandi zahr = I'm not lucky.

Yeah language!

Azar

From Spanish, it translates to "chance" or "fate."

Isn't it funny that the word contains both ideas?

It's only a house

I watched "Up" on the train from Valencia to Barcelona. Funnily enough, the Spanish dubbing differed from the Spanish subtitles, so I was hearing and reading different words. Occasionally, the two merged; "Solo es una casa." 

el 21 de deciembre

diez menos diez

tren

qué dijo?

se rompió

vamos

taxi

madre mia

preguntar

dinero

recuperar

llegar

enviar

sympática

no pasa nada

These were some of the words I used or heard that day, getting from Cartagena to Valencia.

Lechuga

numero

amigo

Marruecos

Francia

hablas

entender

Mauritania

la gente

sobrino

años

la vida

dura

el campo

lechuga

estacion

Two men from Mauritania sat in the otherwise empty bus station in Cartagena. It was midnight and freezing. They helped me use the pay phone to call my host. One spoke French and the other Spanish. I said I had never met a Mauritanian, so they showed me their passports and pointed out the work visas, which they now used to pick lettuce. They had driven taxis at home and used their savings to get to Europe, not knowing that they would spend all their wages on housing and food. Neither had a family. They laughed about ten years of hard work to end up in a bus stop at midnight.

5 a day

français:

pochoir (stencil)

tampon (stamp)

couche (layer)

rapport (rapport)

decouper (carve)

español:

gobierno (government)

ministro (minister)

rey (king)

cuchara (spoon)

cuhchillo (knife)

alarabiya:

muhim (important)

muthir (interesting)

fusul (seasons)

har (hot)

barid (cold)

Türkçe:

almamiş (apparently I took it)

iyimiş (apparently I was good)

tabii (of course)

şişman (fat)

hafif (light)

5 a day

français:

unijambiste (one-legged person)

fin (filler word, like 'so...')

franchement (frankly, basically)

a vrai dire (to be honest)

vachement (really)

español:

rebajas (sales)

joder (fuck)

me cago en la leche (I shit myself in the milk = shoot)

guay (cool)

chulo (pimp/cool)

alarabiya:

musaida (help)

atakalam (I speak)

aqul (I say)

la aarif (I don't know)

ma (water)

türkçe:

acele etmek (to hurry)

şikayet etmek (to complain)

yardım etmek (to help)

fikir (idea)

tatlı rüyalar (sweet dreams)

5 a day

français:

deranger (to bother)

bruillante (noisy)

centre-ville (downtown)

a mon avis (in my opinion)

je vous suis (I follow you)

español:

un sello (a stamp)

una carta (a letter)

el correo (the post office)

un paquete (a package)

estuve contenta (I was happy)

alarabiya:

awal (first)

thani (second)

thalith (third)

rabiaa (fourth)

khamiss (fifth)

türkçe:

basit (simple)

zor (difficult)

bu kadar (this much)

futbol seven (soccer fan)

hepimiz (all of us)

5 a day

español:

puente (bridge)

orilla (banks)

escultura (sculpture)

maestría (masters degree)

pensamiento (thought)

français:

manquer (to miss)

pont (bridge)

pensée (thought)

sculpture (sculpture)

maîtrise (masters degree)

Türkçe:

ev arkadas (roommate)

haberler almak (to get news)

mulakat (interview)

kabul etmek (to accept)

kusura bakma (sorry/no offense)

Alarabiya:

ashkhaz (people)

eshya (things)

mustaida (ready)

qisa (story)

fulus (money)

Un dia en el español

It was Independence Day in Morocco, so we celebrated our independence and drove to Ceuta, a Spanish protectorate just 45 minutes away. Alaina suggested we spend the whole day speaking only Spanish. Por que no? It was a challenge for me, but Alaina was super patient with the constant como se dice and otra vez, and we pulled it off.

We shopped:

calsetines (socks)

escoger (to choose)

We had dinner:

caña (glass of beer)

entrafacil (shot with vodka and lime)

We chatted with guys from Malaga at the bar:

happy (tipsy)

los sevillanos (people from Seville)

We made a whimsical decision:

Quanto es la habitation?

Moi y my new French friend, we text

Mary: Salut, Oriane! How was the art institute? Did you find any classes? I hope you are well. Best, mary.

Oriane: Buenas tarde. Me parece que la clase de arte sera muy interesante pero, para la gente exterior, deberia ouvrir una classe pero no es muy seguro. Te deciria mas cuando se encontramos. Que tal con este nuevo trabajo y la langua maroquis? Hasta pronto. Oriane.

Mary: Gracias por el mensaje! Quieres venir a la casa manana y tomar un te? Yo se que es tarde, pero podemos encontramos en frente de l’institut francais a las 10 por la noche.

Oriane: It would be pleasur, but in this time I live in Martile. 10pm will be difficult after with taxi but we can it something for the lunch if you have some time.

Mary: Ah, je vois! Veux-tu manger avec nous a 1 heure, a la restaurant la union? Si non, nous pouvons rencontrer a l’institut francais a 2 heures, avant de ma classe a 3.

Oriane: Merci. Je ne sais pas encore comment les choses s’organisent-Je te dis vers 12H.

Mary: Bueno :)

The next day

Oriane: OK-Pour 2H-A l’institut de langue? Ou l’institut francais?

Mary: De francais. see you at 2!

Mary: 2.15 svp!

The next day

Mary: Hey oriane, quieres ver una pelicula al instituto cervantes esta tarde a las 5? Se llama los ladrones. Cleo puede venir tambien, peut-etre.

Oriane: Muchas gracias pero estoy trabajando para la exposicion en la medina. Cleo tambien. El vernisage sera manana en 4H. Bienvenida. Buena pelicula.

Oriane: Demain, vers midi? Dans le jardin de l’institut francais?

Mary: C’est possible a 10? Si non, a 3.30? la chose est que je dois faire quelque chose a midi.

Oriane: Alors peut etre apres demain? C’est possible pour toi?

Mary: Oui, d’accord. Mercredi, entonces. Sabes tu horario?

Oriane: J’ai juste en cour de 10 a 12 – on peut se retrouver avant pour petit dej ou apres.

Mary: Hmm…como es 1-3 manana? Je vais manger dej avec une amie, mais apres ca marche.

Oriane: Ouja. Mzien bzef.

The next day, in the evening

Oriane: Bonsoir. Eric, n’etait pas a l’exposition. Je peux tout de meme venir te chercher demain.-Dis moi-Bises.

Mary: Je voudrais tout la meme. A quelle heure veux-tu meet ici? Et merci!

Oriane: Ok. Vers 9H 45.

Mary: Parfait, see you then.

Every day's a one-act play

Scene: a school supply store in Tetouan, Morocco

Characters: 

Mary (our protagonist; she seeks to buy a pencil sharpener)

Woman (she stands behind the counter; pretty, wears a head scarf)

Mary: Bonjour

Woman: Bonjour [smiles warmly]

[Mary rummages in her purse until she extracts a pencil]

Mary: Je cherche...[acts out pencil sharpening]

[Woman nods. She goes to the other end of the counter and returns with two different models of sharpeners. Mary selects one.]

Mary: C'est parfait! Sha-khal?

Woman: Cinqo

[Mary pays the woman with a five dirham coin]

Mary: Gracias

Woman: De nada

Mary: Que tenga un buen dia.

[They smile warmly at each other]

[End scene]

Buenos dias, Bonjour, Sabah al-khir

Northern Morocco is a riot of language.

People assume I am Spanish, so if they can, they ask me lo que quiero. The fruit-seller at the souk: Manzanas diez dirhams, la granada tres dirhams. The waitors: Un sanduche de queso y un batido mixto, si? Agua con gas o sin gas?

This was a pleasant surprise, because it means I can navigate the city without feeling completely lost. Not everyone speaks Spanish, though. It seems to be limited to tourism-related folks, which makes sense, since they serve the Spaniards who come across the water on holiday.

When people shake their heads at Spanish, they usually offer French. The woman charging my phone card: Combien est-ce que vous voulez? The landlord’s wife: Si vous voudrez quelque chose… French is taught in school, so only the uneducated don’t speak it.

Of course, with each other, Moroccans usually speak Darija (unless they are Berber, but let’s hold off on that). They might greet each other with Ca va? but Lebes? is more common. They can switch between Darija and French in the same sentence, and I understand there are a lot of loanwards in Darija itself.

Conclusions:

I need to learn French (again)

And Spanish (more)

And if I want to be like the cool kids:

Arabic (Darija)

And if I want to read and write:

Arabic (Standard)

La violinista

"third wheel" in Spanish. 

Isn't that funny? You, me and la violinista.