Sunday, March 22, 2009
The most useful third language in Cairo is...
Spanish. Not French, or German, or Italian. Español. Every Egyptian who speaks English also speaks Spanish, or is "learning" it (meaning they speak it better than I do). Many shops advertise, "Se habla Español" (and do not do the same with other languages). There are tons of Argentinians here (and Brazilians, but hey, it's South America) and Spanish people. A group of South Americans adopted me into their pyramid tour and I explored ancient Egypt with them. A group of Mexicans is sitting front of my as I type. I've used my Spanish more in Egypt than I have at home...
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I know this will sound ridiculous...but I did not put the language thing together until I read your post right now. I spoke an absurd amount of Spanish in Egypt too...particularly in Cairo. Whenever I was out at a souq or shopping area with touts, people usually guessed I was 1.) Egyptian and then 2.) Spanish or Mexican...then would begin talking to me in Spanish.
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