Hajja Medina (5/6)

This linguistically straightforward excerpt (from minute 32.30 – 43.00) is one to enjoy and consolidate listening skills without worrying about new lexis. Hajja Medina indulges in taxi smalltalk, useful for any Arabic-learning traveler wanting to get about in Egypt; she negotiates prices for her goods with two very different characters and expands on her relationships with the traders she worked with in Cairo. She also reminds us that homesickness among the Sudanese community in Cairo is very real. Opening the excerpt is a little kitchen chat as breakfast is served to her host family.

You can view the full video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYUe6VC28Go&feature=share

Below, screenshots from this excerpt.

Hajja Medina is often given breakfast when she visits her trader colleagues in Cairo. Below, Sudanese ful beans (top left), lentils and fried Nile perch, offered for breakfast in Khartoum.

Transcript and Notes

• 1 aubergine
• 2 Have we made you go hungry? (see Hajja Medina 4).
• 3 Egyptian polite form of address “yaa sitt alkul”, how are you doing?

See more examples of Khartoum street art designed and executed by Khartoum University art students in Mosaics of the City – http://womensliteracysudan.blog/2018/08/17/gallery/

See more Khartoum Scenes in http://womensliteracysudan.blog/2018/11/01/khartoum-scenes-2/

• 4 The taxi driver praises the Sudanese as the most honorable or noblest of peoples.
• 5 He offers her future service, saying if you need anything or whatever (yaa laa bitaa’), take my number and ring me. Note in Sudanese Arabic, we would use the verb Daraba, rather than “rin”.
• 6 The taxi driver reiterates his offer; if you need anything, if you have an errand to run (or trip) (mushwaar, pl mashaawiir) anywhere….
• 7 I’ll get you there and you won’t have to worry. ham; worry, haamii, adjective, worried or anxious
• 8 Will you be staying long in ……..?

• 9 I got to know him (VIIIth form +prep ‘alayy) Hajja Medina goes to explain the importance of mutual trust / reliability and honesty among traders before going on to a tailor’s stall.

Below, more examples of street art in Khartoum by Khartoum University’s art students.

• 10 stitch/ stitch up / hem
• 11 a Sudanese expression for “how did your afternoon go / how has your afternoon gone? Note the use of maa fii ayy ‘awajah in the penultimate line – No problem / can’t complain/ everything’s fine / no harm done, depending on context.

Above, a young man selling lemons and mint in Omdurman Market. See more in Khartoum Collage; http://womensliteracysudan.blog/2019/11/27/khartoum-collage/

• 12 the word “raagid” (literally lying around) is used for goods in very plentiful supply/ everywhere.
• 13 Hajja Medina responds by emphasizing how cheaply she has to sell things now – literally prices are on the floor (waaTah/waaTaa). This word has many colloquial meanings; see Tamis and Persson Sudanese Arabic A Concise Dictionary
• 14 formulaic leave-taking expression
• 15 when abroad (but used for countries where you are an immigrant worker / refugee, etc)
• 16 where they live – in Cairo
• 17 mushtaagah; nostalgic for/ missing someone. Used too when you see a friend after a long absence – we have missed you.

Jewelry sellers in Omdurman Market. Read about Sudan’s unique culture of jewelry and adornment in http://womensliteracysudan.blog/2020/02/01/a-necklace-of-shells-from-distant-seas-2/

In next week’s excerpt, Hajja Medina bids farewell to her friends in Cairo and sets out on the homeward journey to Khartoum.

Hajja Medina is just one of millions of sudanese women who are the economic mainstays of there families and communities. If you are interested in women’s role in Sudan’s economy and the impact of Covid-19, you might enjoy Covid-19 and its impact on women in Sudan; http://womensliteracysudan.blog/2020/04/24/coronavirus-sudan-stepping-back-from-the-abyss-4/