When I saw it I had my heart set on it and started negotiating - although I knew that I'd pay pretty much what they asked as this was just what I wanted.
My negotiating in arabic was limited unfortunately because I didn't know the arabic for a thousand.
After negotiating I had to work out how I was going to get it home. And this was where my arabic classes really came into their own. Thank you Mr Aymen for teaching my how to say my address! So I wrote my address in arabic to start and then confirmed it verbally, saying the street, building number, floor and apartment number. They seemed to understand and I reinforced it with "oroiyeb min Grande Mall" = "near to the Grand Mall".
Then for arranging when they would deliver. I knew the word for "tomorrow" but the next day I wasn't free for a delivery, so I had to try and remember the arabic name for the days of the week. These aren't too bad as they are similar to numbers, but then the guy said "bad bukra?" which I knew meant "after tomorrow". That was good for me, so we shook on it.
So today was bad bukra and I got a few phonecalls from the guy checking I was in and then checking the address - giving me another opportunity to spout off the address. I went downstairs to meet him and our new bowab was around, so he gave me a hand carrying it upstairs and all was good.
So here it is.....
...to be fully revealed in due course!
1 comment:
What a good use of your Arabic - now you can explore buying and haggling more excotic items!
Your work is much appreciated xX
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