alaagii

Audio with Theyab's pronunciation

During my last ijaazah in Kuwait, I was looking at Theyab's family book
majmuu:ah for a text about the country's history.

When abuu-h saw me, he said: "I have a book you can read. khal-ii-nii
alaagii-h."

His choice, Forty Years in Kuwait told the remarkable story of how a young
English woman became the wife of the British ambassador to Kuwait
during the discovery of an-naft.

Leaving friends and family behind, Violet Dickson took a boat to France
then boarded the Orient Express bound for Istanbul. When arriving in Basra
no train track existed into Kuwait, so one of the very few cars available
back in 1930s drove her from the Iraqi border to Kuwait City.

Dickson braved searing Kuwaiti summers in times when the closest thing to
air conditioning was opening ad-dariishah. With her husband often absent
and loved ones far away, a solitary life in the desert might have been enough
to break her resolve, but Dickson set about learning Arabic as well as making
friends among the local Bedouin people, often using her position to rally 
on their behalf to the Emir.

Dickson lived for over sixty years in Kuwait until her death in 1991. She lived with
the Kuwaitis through the rapid transformation of the country as adobe houses
became skyscrapers, and was beloved of them.

Theyab's father's generation remember Violet Dickson - my generation hardly so.
So here is a salute to a voice that is fading from collective memory,
to her contribution and not least, to her impressive command of a language
foreign to her, as can be seen in the video below:

إجازة	ijaazah	Holiday
مجموعة	majmuu:ah	Collection
أبوه	abuu-h	His father
خليني	khal-ii-nii	Let me (lit. let to you (f) me)
النفت	an-naft	Oil
بيت	bayt	House
الدريشة	ad-dariishah	The window
صبر شوية	Sabr shwayyah	Wait a little bit
لازم	laazim	I have to

الرقي	alaagii	I find
تلرقي	tlaagii	You find (>m)
تلرقين	tlaagiin	You find (>f)
تلرقون	tlaaguun	You find (>pl)
نلرقي	nlaagii	We find
يلرقي	ylaagii	He finds
تلرقي	tlaagii	She finds
يلرقون	ylaaguun	They find