so, this morning...it wasn't like a wreck or bump or anything (this time!). rather it was a total lost in translation, have no idea what you are saying, street arabic moment.
we have these guys on the streets that are the "parkers" of the streets...meaning that they kind of claim areas and then "help" you park and then expect a tip for parking in their territory (which of course is not really their's, but i've decided not to mess with the parker's mafia these days).
there was a great spot right in front of my work (which is never open), so i was so excited to park there. so, i told the guy i wanted to and he proceeded to "help" me park (wave his hands, yell in arabic, and move around a lot). i have learned to interpret their "help" and actually use it to help me park, but in this case, it was a total loss.
the guy kept saying tons of stuff in arabic, but i had no idea what he was trying to tell me and it was weird the way he was telling me to park. i can't really explain, but i kept telling him in arabic that i didn't understand and that i was sorry...he just kept talking. so, i tried to say forget it and leave, but he really wanted me to park there (probably because yesterday i gave him a big tip). after several minutes of this (which felt like an eternity), i gave up fully and told him i couldn't understand him, that i was sorry, and just drove off.
luckily i found another spot quickly (rare again), but i walked in to work thinking about how funny the situation was and how after 2 years of living in this place and parking at the same work, i can still have experiences where i look back and still don't know what in the world was going on and how that even happened.
hehe...that's Egypt...unpredicatable, always changing, and a place where you should never try to understand how or why anything happens!
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