سوء الفهم November 29, 2010
Posted by globetrekkerdiaries in Uncategorized.Tags: Miscommunication
4 comments
The title above means “Misunderstanding”.
I want to share something which I will never forget. Well, at least until something more hilarious happens.
It happened about 7 months ago during my trip to Aleppo (حلب) with some friends. We were about to have dinner at the rooftop of a backpackers’ hotel in Halab…when a guy from a European country approached us (I won’t mention which country).
He started to chat but since I was sitting at the outer part of the dining table, he seemed to speak to me more. Anyways, my friends and I were actually very tired. My friends answered his questions in monosyllables while I, more.
And then he spoke some Arabic. Seriously, he had good pronunciation of the Arabic letters, so I commended him by saying, “Your makharij al huruf is very good!”
And then suddenly this guy raised his voice slightly and said…..
“WHAT IS THIS?? YOU JUST KNEW ME AND YOU CALL ME A KHARUF ?!!(sheep).”
It was such a funny but tense situation and one of my friends who understood English started to look puzzled. Me too, but then I answered, “You got me wrong, Brother. I said ‘Huruf’, not ‘kharuf’. Huruf means letters. I was saying your pronunciation of Arabic letters is very good.”
And that guy turned red and started apologising….
“Sorry, I’m sorry I am not really very good in Arabic…sorry I misunderstood”.
And he went on and on…and finally he invited us all for coffee later in the night. But we thanked him, and told him we had to retire early for the night as we will be continuing our sojourn to visit castles around Halab the next day…
So, that is my story on miscommunication. Have you any similar ones? 
Alhamdulillah, I’ve got a new home…. November 26, 2010
Posted by globetrekkerdiaries in Uncategorized.Tags: New Home
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Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu
Peace Be Upon You…it’s been such a long time and I have lots to share, but so little time to spend in the CC (Cyber Cafe). So today, I decided that I’d do a quick post. I have moved! Yes, I finally moved. I was very sad to leave my housemates in my former house, but inshaAllah, this new home will benefit me as well.
This new place where I moved to a week ago, is not new. It is an old Arabic House, with 5 rooms, 2 kitchens, a woody balcony and a huge courtyard. My bed is in a room at a corner, and I share it with 4 other girls. What is nice here is the fact that I am living with native Arabic speakers, so I get to hear the language all day, and I have no choice but to speak the language 
Only me and an Indonesian sister are from Asia, the rest, which forms a majority, are from all over Syria.
Here’s a little picture to share. And inshaAllah, I will try to post more in future.
By the way, a fat cat sashayed out from the kitchen just now. As an Arabic house has an open roof, so..you can imagine how happy those stray cats are..but alhamduliLLAH, it has never been a problem. Just that we must not forget to close our room door, or else, one might come back home and find…..
Syrian Handicrafts November 25, 2010
Posted by globetrekkerdiaries in Uncategorized.2 comments
Peace Be Upon You…
I was recently at the Tekkiye Sulaimaniye or also known as the Silver Souq (Souq Fiddoh), when I came across artists at work. I was particularly interested in the art called, “Ajame” where artists, painstakingly paint art pieces onto frame, or treasure boxes, tables and even decorative tablets. Islamic arts is incorporated as no depiction of animals are visible and also, verses from The Glorious Quran is also incorporated at times. Here are some pictures I managed to snap…
Eyeing this piece….
