I Learned a New Word Today

I was in a taxi heading home from another day of school and a trip out to the American Embassy again, to pick another form and to fill out. Needless to say, it had been an experience. The embassy always takes something out of me. I guess the fact that they don’t let you go to the gift shop without an invitation or an employee of the embassy. I don’t know. I keep thinking, “Wait, this is my embassy. Why can’t I go to my own gift shop?” Anyway back to my taxi ride.

On the major street through our neighborhood there is a fairly big and rather nice median. It has trees planted in it and a place for you to stand to avoid the millions of drivers zooming in and out of traffic. At the traffic light the median stops and beyond the traffic light they are building one. Today I thought that maybe that would be a good conversation started, so I said, “That is going to look nice when they are done with it yeah?” Well, obliviously my Arabic stinks because I was talking with my hands and apparently the driver thought I said, “NO! QUICK PULL A U-TURN AND STOP HERE!!!!” So, of course what happened? He pulled a u-e and nearly killed us.

I wet myself and then went on to tell him that I didn’t live here and I wanted to go straight. He looked at my like I was stupid and then commenced to back down the street we just came down the wrong way until he could turn around to go the correct way. Yeah, I nearly died....... Twice!

The good news is that I learned what to call the median in the road. I still don’t know the word for it, but I know how to say “between” now. So next time I will say, “Hey, what do you call that thing “between” the two streets?” I never knew a simple word could save lives.