Final on John's speaking Moroccan Arabic in Suki III: Never Let Us End

From pages 264/265 of the current version"

“Hi Hammou!” Suki greets the waiter.

“Marhaban bikum sayed John, anisa Suki”

“M`ssa Elkhayer Hammou, jib liya karaa dyal rouge tkon r`khisa, wahed ezzina dyal Diamas D'Isle Oysters , wahed ezzina dyal Blue Point, o wahed ezzina dyal clams khadra ila smehti.”
"wakha a ssi John, yak ma baghi tzid chi hajakhra ?chi kotlit?, ola chi Lobster?”

“hadi chi Baraka had ellila”

"Which Arabic was that, John?"

"Moroccan, I learned it in Casablanca, when I was there for about six months. None of my Lebanese Arabic worked, so I had to learn."

Hammou returns with the order, “hak assi John oanisa Suki”

“chorkran Hammou.”

“Hammou, if the guys at the bar spot us please tell them we need just need quiet time and are not avoiding them? John has been in the hospital all week.”

“Of course Miss Suki and I shall say hello to Big D when you leave. I will make quiet, as long as you like.”

“Thank you Hammou. Okay John, from your ordering, I picked out the things that are the same across languages, Diamas D'Isle Oysters, these?” She points and John nods yes. “Blue Point Oysters and the clams but did not know they would be raw, something about lobster too. I thought you would be starving for a steak?”

“The lobster was a suggestion from Hammou. If I wanted steak you would be making it or we would be at Morton’s, sweetheart, both of you know what medium rare is,” John smiles and gives his lady a kiss on the cheek. “Let’s see how we feel after this first bottle of wine before we try a second? Not sure how it . . .”

Suki III: Please Never Let Us End. The Translation Adventure

I decided that if John was going to have spent so many years as an Army Aviator, he better know a little more Arabic than I do. If he were a real Army Aviator he would be about 25 years old right now, in 2009, and would be getting stationed in all sorts of Arabic speaking places through the rest of his uniform assignments, probably some of his contractor jobs too. By the time he meets Suki, 20 years or so from now, he should know a couple of different flavors too. Also, Suki speaks several languages and orders from waitresses and waiters in the languages she shares with those people. Seemed like a good match for the couple.

I enlisted the assistance of a Moroccan buddy of mine, offered to use his name in the book but that was purely up to him, and he agreed. So, someplace in John's background he was in Casablanca for six months and learned to order drinks and dinner in Moroccan Arabic.

This is a still a rough cut. Needs some tweaking.

"Hello Mister John and Miss Suki!" Þ “Marhaban bikum sayed John, anisa
Suki’’

"Hi Hammou!" Suki responds.

"Good evening Hammou, one bottle of cheap red wine, one
dozen Diamas D'Isle Oysters, one dozen Blue Point and a dozen raw clams please."
Þ” M`ssa Elkhayer Hammou, jib liya karaa dyal rouge tkon
r`khisa, wahed ezzina dyal Diamas D'Isle Oysters , wahed ezzina dyal
Blue Point, o wahed ezzina dyal clams khadra ila smehti.”

"Very good Mister John. Anything else? Steak?
Lobster?" Þ wakha a ssi John, yak ma baghi tzid chi haja
khra ?chi kotlit?, ola chi Lobster? .

"No, I think that
will be fine for us for the evening." Þ “ hadi chi Baraka had
ellila”
(stop translating here)

"Which Arabic was that,
John?"

"Moroccan, I learned it in Casablanca, when I was there for
about six months. None of my Lebanese Arabic worked, so I had to
learn."

(Hammou returns with the order, translate
again)

"Here you go Mister John and Miss Suki" Þ “ hak assi John o
anisa Suki”

"Thank you Hammou," (stop translating
here) John responds. Þ “chorkran Hammou.”