Loving Words

First published March 5, 2009

John and I had an evening to ourselves since the girls were meeting with their youth group from church. I was going to order pizza and watch an NBC news podcast, but he thought we should go on a date, dine out and practice more Arabic. (It sounded romantic for a split-second.)

We walked to a local cafe and were greeted by Meena. He has been our waiter on two prior occasions and a friendship is forming. He asked us why we hadn't called him to take a tour of the Coptic churches throughout Cairo. We told him that we had been working hard learning Arabic and that we would definitely take him up on his offer.

The cafe was bustling with a variety of Egyptians looking to relax after working all day. Behind us a couple sat with a laptop between them and each had a cigarette lit. The table next to us was filled with young, well-dressed men who ordered their food and then two of them got up and left.

The rest of the tables had varieties of chatting men and women with laptops, cellphones and cups of steaming coffee.

We looked through the menu and made our food choices. We were determined to order in Arabic, unfortunately (or fortunately) I wanted Italian which means there is no difference when I say it. The ordering process went on in Arabic as much as possible with the exception of verbs, definite articles and most modifiers.

Halfway through our meal the two men who had disappeared returned just in time for their food to arrive. They had a bag and began to display their purchases. Each had bought a different type of cologne and they were all checking them out. They laughed and ate and ate some more.

Our meal was served and tasted delicious. John prepared his closing remarks to the waiter. He told Meena (once again in Arabic) that he loved the cafe and that the food was very good. Meena looked at him and said, "I love you. I love you, too." Then he laughed. Then I laughed. John just looked dazed.

Meena walked away shaking his head and I could not stop laughing. John was certain he was using the correct phrasing for his comment. Apparently, Meena thought differently. 

We will go back in a week or two and have a few more words under our belt. Maybe then John will be able to say exactly what's on his mind without declaring his unwavering love for service people. Until then, "I love you, too, John."