Who is Maha?

Many of you have been asking a very profound question regarding the name of this blog: “I don’t get it. Who’s Maha?” And this is something that I’ll admit I should have addressed from the get-go. To answer this question, I could list for you all the conventionally important biographical facts about Maha, like how she is a character in the book (it is literally called ‘the book:’ Al-Kitab) used for Arabic language education in America. I could tell you that Maha is a Palestinian-Egyptian woman living in the United States, that her father works as a translator with the UN, and that her grandfather was an army officer. I could also tell you that Maha admits on camera that she often feels lonely, that she is jealous of her friend Leila’s pool, and even hints that she is wistfully in love with her first cousin. ...

November 17, 2014 · Caitlyn

Two asses in the same pair of boxers

طيزين في الباس “teezayn fil bas“ “Inseparable / best friends.” Exponentially more intimate and evocative than “two peas in a pod.”

October 20, 2014 · Caitlyn

“The world is crowded.”

الدُنيا زَحمة “ad-dunya za7ma“ aka, “It’s really crowded [right now/today].” A bit of an exaggeration, but at the same time, not really, because Cairo is SO. crowded. all the time. [الدنيا = world, زحمة = a nice catch-all word for crowded-ness–not just for cars.]

October 19, 2014 · Caitlyn