We were riding in a taxi yesterday going to the big bazaar.
Everyone here asks “where you from”.
If it is just someone on the street, you can be sure he is trying to start a conversation so he can drag you into his store.
We got dragged into a perfume shop this way. Live and learn.
Children on the street will say “Welcome to Egypt. Where you from”. It is unclear if they have something to sell or are just practicing their English.
2 hijab-ed women, one wearing a niqab (a veil that covers the entire face but leaves the eyes visible) were walking down the street and as they passed us, one of them said “Welcome to Egypt” and kept walking. Slightly odd.
Anyway, the taxi driver asked “Where you from” and I replied “America”
His response was
“Americans beautiful! Very good people… Bush, no good!”
I agreed and we laughed.
I wonder how the conversation would have gone if I tried to disagree with him, and had a command of the language to do so…
Update: Had the same thing happen the other day at the meat counter. Nice man asked us where we were from, we replied Amreeki (america in Egyptian Arabic).
He said “Americans very nice. Bush no good”
Seems to be a common sentiment.
3 replies on “Americans beautiful!”
We were in Europe in April 2003 (Iraq war started March 2003). We got used to that- of course, it helps when you agree and are ashamed of silly things like ‘freedom fries’.
When I was in Costa Rica they asked me what country I was from and I made the mistake of saying “America.” They laughed and corrected me – “ah, you mean the United States”. I forgot that technically America is two continents’ worth of countries, including Costa Rica. Evidently the only people who care to nitpick this point are the Latin Americans:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Use_of_the_word_American
Jack: In Mexico I was corrected to say “Norte Americano”.
Why is it that every shopper, taxi driver, and butcher in Cairo knows “Bush is no good” but average Americans can’t seem to figure it out. Crap. I could do a better job. We must have been very bad in a previous life.