*blinks slowly at the light*

[ajnabieh]

It's amazing how intense the first little bit of summer vacation can be. At least, if you're me, and have two weddings and two graduations to attend in a four week period. Oh, and two revise-and-resubmits that should have been done ages ago staring down your nose.

But I've finally got half-a-breath, and hope to be returning to blogging soon. (In particular, I've got an interview I want to put up, and some commentary on the Egyptian election.) But, in quick hits:

1) So, uh, I graduated?



OK, maybe I'm a *little* miffed it didn't have a gold tassel, but owning my very own fuzzy octagonal hat makes up for any slights. C'mon, after all those fashion posts, are you surprised I got my doctorate for the express purpose of wearing regalia?

2. I'm super excited about the Arab American Book Awards. I was a judge in the poetry category, and got to read six amazing books of vibrant new poetry, by both up-and-coming and established stars in the Arab-American poetry community. I will make a post about all the nominees in a little bit--and probably give away some of the books, though a couple I'm keeping--but if you like poetry and can pick up a copy of Transfer, the honorable mention, somewhere, do so. I'd say you should get a copy of Abu Ghraib Arias, but it was only printed in an edition of 200, and therefore is unlikely to be found on store shelves. (You can see the cover and read a poem from it here.) I'm also excited because it means a likely trip to Dearborn for me to attend the awards ceremony. Dearborn yay!

3. This is where I publicly say that I'm planning to go to Egypt for a few weeks in September, to do some fieldwork. So if you, say, speak Egyptian 'ammiya (dialect) and want to Skype practice with me, or recommend your favorite trashy Egyptian movies/television to watch to get my listening comprehension up, or give me hotel recommendations or whatevs, you can.

4. In the vein of the previously mentions trashy Arabic TV: TOOP SHEF. That's how you say Top Chef in Arabic. IT IS SERIOUSLY THE BEST THING EVER EVER EVER EVER.

I'm pretty sure you don't need to know Arabic to follow along, once the cooking gets going--there's a lot of English (and some French) used to communicate, and plus, cooking!reality!TV crosses all possible linguistic boundaries.

After all, I think it's important that I learn how to say "I'm not here to make friends" in Arabic as soon as possible, don't you?

Comments

[littlebutfierce]

Congrats on graduating! You look marvelous in that cap. :D

[ajnabieh]

Ah ha ha, I LOVE ACADEMIC REGALIA SO MUCH. Because academia is so bizarre and weird and I think we need to hold on to all of our bizarre traditions because THAT IS WHAT MAKES IT FUN :D :D :D I may be a little overenthusiastic. :)

[kass]

OMG TOOP SHEF! I am going to have to check that out.

Also, nifty regalia! Go you!

[ajnabieh]

I am loving the crap out of Toob Shef, I gotta say. I have gone so far as to like my favorite contestant on Facebook. *g*

(I gotta get a better food-related icon than this)

[idella]

Congratulations on graduating!! \o/

[ajnabieh]

Hooray! From now on I'll be participating in graduations as a boss-person, not as recipient! \0/

[notthemarimba]

Congratulations on graduating!
I did a study abroad in Alexandria two summers ago, and while my Egyptian Arabic is far from awesome, I know a lot of basics and could hook you up with some resources if you'd like :)

[ajnabieh]

Oooh, I would love to know what resources you used! I'm working through the Kullu Tamaam textbook, using the Anki software program to make flashcards, and then just watching TV. But if you have recs for other materials, or good movies/tv shows/exciting media to consume, lemme know. :) Alexandria sounds awesome! My tentative plan is to go to both Cairo and Alexandria, not merely because in Alex I'll be able to swim. :)

[kuwdora]

Congratulations!!!

[ajnabieh]

Thanks!

[loveanddisdain.blogspot.com]

I have to admit that you look far more glamorous in that regalia than I did. The octagonal tam definitely adds something. I'm also not surprised that you *bought*, rather than rented your regalia. :)

And, strictly speaking, 'Top Chef' in Arabic would TOOB SHEF. :P

[ajnabieh]

See, I'm trying to catch the phonetics of it--the sound the announcer is producing is somewhere between toob and toop. I really need some people who have spent a lot of time in Arabic speaking countries to watch it, because seriously 25% of what is spoken is in English, and I don't know if that's normal or a function of the show's judges/setting in Dubai or what.

I did buy, but they didn't give us a choice. And the regalia's made out of really cheap material--I'm probably going to get a real cloth version when I get a job. Actually, my mom has her real cloth baccalaureate robe from the 70s, which I may get altered to be a doctoral robe, because, you know, family heirloom and all that.

VELVET. Does DOU have interesting regalia at all? I was super super jealous of a friend from CUNY--her robes were so much prettier.

[loveanddisdain.blogspot.com]

Really, you are correct that the phone is somewhere between B and P. My general impression of the phenomenon is that Arabs who can fully realize P are accustomed to avoid doing that — kind of like public speakers in the US who make a point of using non-standard grammatical constructions to emphasize local affiliation. Most TV watchers in the Arab world, as I would guess, do not have full control over non-Arabic phones, and are used to hearing them voiced with a strong Arabic accent. And yes, on shows like that, it is very common to have about 25% English mixed in.

DOU has...interesting regalia, yes. I elected not to wear it, since it is entirely in the garish school colors. I mean, ENTIRELY. I expect discounted rates if I have to dress like a clown for the rest of my career, not $1000. Whenever I get around to buying my own regalia, I'm going to go conservative and unassuming.

[ajnabieh]

I followed your link. AHHAHAHAHAHAHA. HA. AHEM. That's kind of great. You know, if I were an DOU grad, I would probably buy it *just* to look ridiculous, because I think that's some of the point. As it is, I'm just mad I didn't go to NYU.

[nanila]

W00t to graduating and the Egypt trip! Also, the book awards sound great - will there be readings?

[ajnabieh]

Oooh, I hope there will be readings! What's the point of having a bunch of writers in one place, otherwise? :) But what I'm 100% sure of is that there will be amaaaaaazing food; the conference I went to at the museum in the fall had the best conference food I've ever experienced. Epic.

[bellakara]

Congratulations on graduating!

I enjoyed that Top Chef!

[ajnabieh]

I love all the Top Chef variations so much--it's nice to have a "good" reason to watch one. :) Thanks!

[jae]

Congratulations! And so glad to hear about the Egypt trip.

-J

[ajnabieh]

I am so, so glad to be planning both international travel AND fieldwork. Both make me happy. (I'm sure you agree.) As does spending the summer doing language study! I've never learned more than a little dialect, and picking Egyptian means I'm really having to break a lot of habits from my previous study (the sound system is very different, moreso than the Palestinian/Syrian pronunciation I've learned before, plus there's that whole verbs conjugate differently, pronouns are all said differently, etc problem), but it's SO MUCH FUN.