Cairo is No Dushanbe
Oh man. This fresh off the wires from a friend who is studying Persian in Dushanbe (Tajikistan, that is):
yesterday i went to get some passport pictures taken. i went to the place, had a photo taken and came back later in the afternoon to pick them up. when the cashier handed me the photos i said 'this is not me.' she insisted it was and upon closer inspection i realized that she, in fact, was correct. it was me. i was wearing a grey borat-style suit and the background was as white as possible. i may just be imagining things, but it appears as though my face was 'shined up' and whitened. another friend here agreed that i was both whiter and shinier.
i yelled at them and asked if it was a joke, but i simply got blank stares in return. the entire office was against me. they insisted that 'passport pictures must be like this'. 'i have to be wearing a stupid, fucking grey suit?' they were shocked. then i asked if i they could give me a blonde afro and a black moustache next time and they said that it could also be done. in fact i could get a beard if i wanted to. maybe i'll get a little tipsy later on this week and go and get one of those done too. once i get access to a scanner you will see.
This beats my rat story by a mile.
Enjoyed a leisurely morning in Midan Falaki with Blake this morning in an attempt to get passport pictures taken. Had a nice over-airconditioned coffee at Costa and ended up having to kill time in Hurriya (Seven, not Stella, at that hour of the day). That place...it's the kind of joint you never ever want to see renovated because it would just kill the character and ambience completely, right down to the crappy, faded paint job and the remnants of Stella labels stuck on the mirrored walls.
So I have my first published translation clip in the Ibn Khaldoun newsletter this month. To be honest, I feel queasy about it. First, there's the fact that it's an interview with the Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood (and believe me, those guys read *everything*). Second, it's a pretty liberal translation, which when you're translating the words of someone like Muhammad Mahdi Akef, you really don't want to cock it up and mistranslate.
But I guess you have to get experience somehow. Hopefully I can keep doing translations for the center's newsletter and keep collecting clips that will - inshahallah - improve in accuracy and flow.
yesterday i went to get some passport pictures taken. i went to the place, had a photo taken and came back later in the afternoon to pick them up. when the cashier handed me the photos i said 'this is not me.' she insisted it was and upon closer inspection i realized that she, in fact, was correct. it was me. i was wearing a grey borat-style suit and the background was as white as possible. i may just be imagining things, but it appears as though my face was 'shined up' and whitened. another friend here agreed that i was both whiter and shinier.
i yelled at them and asked if it was a joke, but i simply got blank stares in return. the entire office was against me. they insisted that 'passport pictures must be like this'. 'i have to be wearing a stupid, fucking grey suit?' they were shocked. then i asked if i they could give me a blonde afro and a black moustache next time and they said that it could also be done. in fact i could get a beard if i wanted to. maybe i'll get a little tipsy later on this week and go and get one of those done too. once i get access to a scanner you will see.
This beats my rat story by a mile.
Enjoyed a leisurely morning in Midan Falaki with Blake this morning in an attempt to get passport pictures taken. Had a nice over-airconditioned coffee at Costa and ended up having to kill time in Hurriya (Seven, not Stella, at that hour of the day). That place...it's the kind of joint you never ever want to see renovated because it would just kill the character and ambience completely, right down to the crappy, faded paint job and the remnants of Stella labels stuck on the mirrored walls.
So I have my first published translation clip in the Ibn Khaldoun newsletter this month. To be honest, I feel queasy about it. First, there's the fact that it's an interview with the Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood (and believe me, those guys read *everything*). Second, it's a pretty liberal translation, which when you're translating the words of someone like Muhammad Mahdi Akef, you really don't want to cock it up and mistranslate.
But I guess you have to get experience somehow. Hopefully I can keep doing translations for the center's newsletter and keep collecting clips that will - inshahallah - improve in accuracy and flow.
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