Silence Is Golden

I’m never going to a 3za again. (A 3za is the Egyptian traditional funeral where friends and family come to pay condolences to their immediate family).

What happens is I go dressed in black, say “El baqa’a lellah” (Eternity is for God- it basically means that nothing is eternal, except for God, and that is our destiny).

At these things, usually people start chatting with each other and you always end up finding out that you know the person’s relatives or friends or friends of friends.

You end up exchanging stories of things you may have in common and how you all know each other. Eventually when it comes time for me to leave, I want to tell the people I have newly met that it was nice to meet them. You can’t always say it in English; sometimes people think you’re being cocky. So I blurt out, without thinking too much of the meaning-, “forsa sa3eeda”.

This is the second time I have gone to a 3za and left saying, “Forsa sa3eeda.”!!!! (It literally means “This was a good opportunity to meet you.”) I can never think of something that comes out smoothly meaning plain “Nice meeting you.”

Then I hear myself say it and want to shoot myself.

It’s basically like saying, “It’s a good thing he died because we got a chance to meet.” Please someone shoot me. That’s not even mentioning WHO I said it to.

I should walk around with a manual of situations and what you’re “supposed” to say in them.