There's a saying people use without much thought of what it means, "It's all Greek to me". Without much regard to what this meant, it pretty much sums up my feelings of trying to navigate this country sometimes. I decided to ask the Internet - yes, I ask "the" Internet, or more specifically, I ask "the" Google. The Internet tells me that this saying is used when something is difficult to understand, complex, as in the ancient Greek language. With all do respect, Mr. William Shakespeare, but when you coined the saying in your play, Julius Ceaser, you had clearly not traveled to the Middle East or tried to speak Arabic.
I am now officially petitioning that the saying be changed to "It's all Arabic to me".
I will never forget the first day R took me out for a drive (remember, I'm not allowed to drive here) and there is no shortage of billboard signage everywhere. I remember thinking that hopefully I would be able to read them and that one day it wouldn't look "Greek" to me. Unfortunately, after 6 months, my Arabic is not much better than it was the first time I watched "Arabs got Talent" - ie, I don't understand anything. Luckily, my broken English and Hindi are more than sufficient to get me through the days.
And also, thankfully, years of being silently brainwashed by fast food marketing giants made understanding some of the signage easier. See for yourself....
If it weren't for the endlage barrage of ads, marketing campaigns, product placement, and other ways American brands got everyone in the world to love them, I could have been living in Saudi Arabia for six months and never had a Krispy Kreme donut. What blasphemy?!
I also appreciate that Chicken Tikka - the holy grail of all Indian food - needs no translation, it is a universal language. The language of delicious.
Thanks!!
-M
