thängz

"Shukrye." I am not quite sure where the owners of the deli on 95th and Amsterdam are from, but I know that they speak Arabic to each other. So maybe because it was so late, or maybe because the man behind the counter was not sure how much to charge me and then opted for the friendlier amount, I wanted to test the waters and thus, I thanked, using the only word I know in Arabic, which happens to be "thank you".. "Shukrye." (I also think I might know "khat, khat", but that means "faster" to camels, so I do not think this would have been a good one to test.) The man behind the counter looked me as if I were a puppy that just performed a really cute trick for the very first time. "You speak with a Pakistani accent," he said with a big smile, his head on an angle. Who would have thought my one word Arabic would place me this quickly on the map. Great. He went on to explain that in Arabic the word I was looking for is "Shukran." (With a short "ran") Excellent. Now I will need to slowly find out where the man is from. But is was late and I had to go. "Khat, khat" I went back to my "Bayt." Just remembered that this means home in Arabic... hmm.)