"Ajeeb"

This is one of my favorite Urdu words to say. "Ajeeb"  
Why?  Well it sounds like what it means: strange.

It always fits as a perfect word to describe those absolutely crazy, weird, strange, and unexplainable funny experiences that happen to us simply because we are living in a foreign land.


Before I tell you may latest you will also need to know the word "ungrez" or "foreigner/whites/those of English speaking language."

So, my latest totally "ajeeb" experience was when the house bell rang.

A woman I had never seen before stood there smiling.  The conversation went something like this (don't forget we have only been in language study for 2 months so... all things considered I think it went something like this!)

"Hi."

"Hi."

"Do you need something?" (I didn't know if she was a beggar or wanting to know whether my children had been vaccinated for polio or something else).

"No, I just use to work here and now I work across the street and they told me that "ungrez" live here."
long pause... not sure what to say...
I smile, "Yes, I am an ungrez."
"But you speak our language perfectly"
(yeah right... since I can say what you can already see by just looking at me!)
"Thank you."
long pause... not sure what to say...
I smile again, "I'm so glad I met you!"
"Me too.  I just wanted to see if you really were a  "ungrez"!
"I am an "ungrez"
"Bye"
"Bye, God bless"


Ajeeb.
Very Ajeeb.
I love living here.


Don't be surprise if I knock on your door just to see what you look like, what color you are, or what language you speak, or if you wear the same thing I do, eat the same, talk the same, think the same...
Don't be offended.  Just consider it something to laugh over and label it: "ajeeb."


m