The coffee house spills onto the street. Two men drinking tea engage the American student in conversation. They ask questions of the Khawaja- Your name? Your country?- in Cleopatra cigarette-filtered Cairene slang while he answers in his first year Arabic, converting with difficulty from Modern Standard to Egyptian Colloquial. Still, they are amazed that he speaks their language and that, as Dr. Johnson said about a dog walking on his hind legs, It is not done well, but they are surprised it is done at all.
©David Melody