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I saw an Arabic quote today, tweeted by@ksa_twitt_sa, that I had never seen before.
Perhaps it sounds better in Arabic than in English, but its point is good in both languages:
I saw an Arabic quote today, tweeted by
Perhaps it sounds better in Arabic than in English, but its point is good in both languages:
قال الولد لأبيه: صاحب القمامة عند الباب.
فرد الأب: يا بني نحن أصحاب القمامة،
وهو صاحب النظافة جاء ليساعدنا
فرد الأب: يا بني نحن أصحاب القمامة،
وهو صاحب النظافة جاء ليساعدنا
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"The boy said to his father, 'the trash guy is here.'
The father replied, 'son, we are the trash-guys;
he is the sanitation guy, coming to help us out."
The father replied, 'son, we are the trash-guys;
he is the sanitation guy, coming to help us out."
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صاحب القمامة / أصحاب القمامة
garbage man / men
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صاحب النظافة / أصحاب النظافة
sanitation man / men
(sanitation worker)
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Another memorable article I was reminded of was Tales of the Trash, By Peter Hessler, published in The New Yorker last year. Tales of the Trash focuses on one of the zebaleen in particular, (Sayyid Ahmed) and the observations he is able to make about individuals on his route, and the extrapolations he is able to make about Egyptian society as a whole, based on things discovered in the trash.
In translating this, I was reminded of a couple of good stories involving garbage collectors in Cairo that I had either listened to or read over the last few years. The first is a story by Liane Hansen that was broadcast on NPR back in 2009, about the "zebaleen" in Cairo, and how they are able to collect and successfully recycle more trash on Cairo's narrow streets than foreign contractors."
Another memorable article I was reminded of was Tales of the Trash, By Peter Hessler, published in The New Yorker last year. Tales of the Trash focuses on one of the zebaleen in particular, (Sayyid Ahmed) and the observations he is able to make about individuals on his route, and the extrapolations he is able to make about Egyptian society as a whole, based on things discovered in the trash.
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