Compositions of Light and Literature – JMH

This young boy approached me at the Giza Pyramids offering me a ride on either on of his “fine” horses for ten Egyptian Pounds.  His name is Waleed and he is the second youngest horse bound tour guide in Egypt.

Boy:  Meester…..al hessan….ashra gennae fahqut.  (Mister…the horse….only ten egyptian pounds)

Me: Kam omruk?  (How old are you?)

Boy:  Ana? (Me?)

Me:  Aywa….enta…kam omruk?  (Yes….you….how old are you?)

Boy:  Sabah (7)

Me:  La areed an irkub al hessan ehlan….rakubtu al jamel min qabl!  (No I don’t want to ride the horse now, I rode the camel before!)

Boy:  “Min fadluk sayid…terkub al hessan….min fadluk…..themanea gennae fahqut.” (Please….sir…..you ride the horse….please….8 egyptian pounds only.)

Me:  “La, la, la areed….mish aesh….” (No No, I don’t want….I don’t want (Egyptian Dialect))

Boy:  Min fadluk ya sayid….min fadluk….hamza gennae fahqut!”  (Please….sir….please…..five pounds only!”

Me:  Abuk feen?  Lematha enta qaid al hessan?”  (Where’s your father, why do you lead the horses.)

Boy:  Nahnu fakeer….min fadluk terkub al hessan…..thalatha genae fahqut.”  (We’re poor…please…ride the horse….3 pounds only.)

Me:  Ma ismuk?  (What’s your name?)

Boy:  Ismee Waleed.  (My name is Waleed.)

Me.  “Ya Waleed, la areed an irkub al hessan, areed an ikuth souratek…..lil thalatha genae.” (Waleed, I don’t want to ride the horse, I want to take your picture….for three pounds.)

Waleed:  Okay mister.  Three pounds.

Click

Me.  Shukran…enta baeeya tayib.  (Thanks, you are a good salesman.)

Waleed:  (Laughs)

That is how this picture came about.  Actually, Waleed’s horses were so skinny I was afraid I would break them.  If you go to the Pyramids, and see him…..take his picture, but give him a tip.

Dear Peeps,

Here is my published interview with the Pakistani Spectator, a hotspot for Bloggers everywhere including Pakistan. 

http://www.pakspectator.com/interview-with-blogger-jeffrey-hopkins/

Please check it out.

Thanks,

Jeffrey M. Hopkins

REVIEW OF BROKEN UNDER INTERROGATION by gentleman from Jamaica, NY.

Posted here:  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1419698303/ref=s9_sims_gw_s1_p14_t1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0MYGXTRT5HWBY0RSX1F2&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846

The main protagonist is John Powers, a young recruit who joins the army. Through his POV we lears about the military basic training as well as the war in Iraq. We also get to learn about the underhanded, deceptive and atrocious tactics that one must employ in order to get the job done. The story doesn’t stop there. John returns to train vets to fight against drugs in the neighborhood. But as expected this operation doesn’t go down as planned.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. At certain moments it reminded me of movies such as Apocalypse Now, Rendition. It’s not for the faint of heart as the author paints a very bleak and disturbing picture.

Jeffrey M. Hopkins is the author of Broken Under Interrogation, a novel set in the near future of rot belt America.  He chooses these words, because the factories and empty warehouses there serve as gravestones for American Industry.  If the United States wants to see a way out of the current economic crisis, they will invent the industries of the 21st century, and employ the hardworking men and women of this rot belt as labor in a building the new American dream.  Broken Under Interrogation is the gap that fills the periphery between the American Dream and an American Nightmare.  It was published 2008 by the Author Jeffrey M. Hopkins.