today i visited my former arabic tutor. the typical exchange:
her: as-salaamu 3alaykum! (Peace be upon you)
me: wa3laykum as-salaam! kayfich? (And upon you, peace. How are you?)
her: al-hamdulillah. kayf 7alich? (Praise be to God. How are you?)
me: al-hamdulillah, bikhayr. (Praise be to God, well.)
her: kayf umurich? kayf shughlich? (How is you work?)
me: al-hamdulillah, tantahii! (It's finished!)
[the usual 5-minute greeting occurs, we exclaim over how it's been so long, and how soon i'm leaving, and it seemed like yesterday that i started taking lessons from her.]
her: you put on weight.
me: it's because i'm wearing a large shirt (ramadan modesty standards and all)
her: tafaddalii (go ahead, sit down); [she walks to the kitchen and continues to say] no, in your arms.
me: ??!?!
it sounds like something my mom would say. which makes sense, because ihsan was basically our mother when L and i were taking arabic lessons during those first few critical settling in months. she told us where to get good deals, fed us (even during ramadan when she was fasting), told me how to deal with my ministry and other visa issues in addition to teaching us arabic. i'm going to miss her.
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