داستان کوتاه

Neo-Bedouins - mini-story

Okay, welcome to the mini-story for the Neo-Bedouins lesson. Let’s get started. First the story.

There is a hip guy named Andy. Andy is nomadic. He can never stay in one place. He loves to roam from place to place, country to country.

But every summer, he always stays in San Francisco. When he’s in the city, his favorite hangout is the venerable café Trieste. The café used to be the place where San Francisco’s famous writers hung out. It was the epicenter of the San Francisco arts movement.

One day, Andy emerges from the café and he crosses paths with an old friend named Leo. His friend says: I’m leaving San Francisco. I’m striking out on my own to see the world.

Andy asks him: Where are you going first? Leo says: I’m going to Iraq. It’s very beautiful in the summer.

Two weeks later, Andy reads the newspaper and sees a story. The story says that Leo has been killed in Iraq. “It figures” says Andy. “Iraq is a very dangerous and insecure place. What an idiot!”

Okay, let’s go back up to the beginning, this time with questions. Use your pause button to answer the questions or shout them out quickly or just listen and relax, it’s up to you. Let’s get started.

There is a hip guy named Andy.

Is Andy cool?

Yeah, that’s right, of course, he’s cool. He’s hip. He’s a hip guy, he’s a cool guy. He wears sunglasses. He has really nice clothes. He looks good. He’s a hip guy. He’s a very cool guy.

Is Leo a hip guy?

No, not Leo. Leo’s not a hip cool guy. Andy is a hip guy. Andy is a cool guy.

So, is Andy hip or is he a dork, a nerd?

Well, Andy is a hip guy. Andy is hip. He’s not a dork. That’s the opposite of cool, a dork or a nerd that means not cool. But Andy is cool, so he’s a hip guy. Andy is a very hip guy.

So who is a hip guy?

Well, Andy is a hip guy, right? He’s a cool guy. Andy is a very hip guy. Andy is a hip guy. He’s also nomadic.

Does Andy like to travel around a lot?

Yes, that’s exactly right. He’s nomadic. He likes to move a lot. He’s always moving from one place to another. He never stays in one place a long time. He’s nomadic. Andy is very nomadic, he likes to move a lot.

Is Leo nomadic? His friend Leo.

Well, yeah maybe I think Leo probably is also nomadic, right? Leo is traveling around a lot. He goes to Iraq. So Leo is also nomadic. He also likes to move a lot. He likes to move around.

Are bedouins, bedouins nomadic?

Yeah, that’s right. Remember in the vocabulary lesson. Bedouins, they’re people in Arabia, they are nomadic. They move around a lot. They don’t stay in one place. They’re always moving. They are nomadic.

So Andy is a hip guy. He’s a cool guy and he’s nomadic. He likes to move a lot. He can never stay in one place. He loves to roam from country to country and place to place.

Does he like to travel? Does he plan his travel a lot? Plan it carefully?

No, no, no, he does not plan his traveling carefully. He likes to roam. It means he likes to travel without a plan.

One day he thinks: ha… I want to go to Mexico, so he goes to Mexico. And the next month he thinks: I want to go Europe, so he goes to Europe. He’s roaming. There’s no plan, right? He doesn’t have a definite plan. He’s roaming. He likes to roam from country to country.

Who loves to roam from country to country?

Well, Andy likes to roam from country to country.

Why does he like to roam?

Well, he likes to roam, because he’s nomadic. He’s a nomadic person, so he likes to roam, he likes to travel without a plan from place to place.

He’s always roaming the world, traveling the world, but every summer he always stays in San Francisco. So the rest of the year, he’s traveling traveling traveling, but in the summer he always stays in San Francisco. When he’s in the city, he’s favorite hangout is café Trieste.

Is café Trieste his favorite place to meet people?

Yes, that’s right. Café Trieste is his favorite place to meet people.

Is café Trieste his favorite place to stay and relax?

Yes, that’s right. It’s his favorite hangout. It’s his favorite hangout, his favorite place to stay and relax and rest and meet people. It’s his favorite hangout.

Where is his favorite hangout?

His favorite hangout is café Trieste in San Francisco.

Is his favorite hangout very old? An old place?

That’s right, yes. It’s a venerable place. He likes to hang out. His favorite hangout, is the venerable café Trieste.

Is café Trieste very very very old?

Yes, that’s right. It’s venerable, it’s extremely old, very old, it’s the venerable café Trieste. It’s the very very old café Trieste.

Is San Francisco a venerable city?

Well, yes and no. For America, it is a venerable city, it’s an old city in America, but in the world maybe people think: It’s not so old, right? It’s not very old. Cities in Europe, cities in Asia are much older, but in America we think: San Francisco is a venerable city, a very old city and café Trieste is a venerable café, it’s an old café.

And the café used to be the center where San Francisco’s famous writers hung out.

Did famous writers meet at café Trieste?

Yes, they did. They hung out at café Trieste. This is the past tense, using it as a verb, they hung out at café Trieste. They met at café Trieste. They stayed and relaxed at café Trieste. They hung out at café Trieste, in the past.

In the past, San Francisco’s famous writers hung out at café Trieste. Café Trieste was the epicenter of the San Francisco arts movements.

Did the San Francisco arts movement start near café Trieste?

Yes, it did. That’s right. That was the center, that was the most important place for the arts movement, the arts group.

Was it the epicenter of an earthquake?

No, no, it wasn’t the center of an earthquake, right? Big earthquake… buildings falling down… no no no. The earthquake did not start there.

What was it the epicenter of?

Café Trieste was the epicenter of the San Francisco arts movement. It was the center. It’s where it started. It’s where most of the artists would meet. Café Trieste was the epicenter, the center, the starting point of the arts movement.

Okay, so one day, Andy emerges from the café.

Does he go into the café?

No, no, he doesn’t go in. He comes out of the café. He emerges from the café. He comes out of the café. He appears from the café, right? So, he emerges from the café, he comes out of the café.

Where does Andy emerge from?

Well, he emerges from the café. He emerges from café Trieste. He comes out of café Trieste.

After he emerges from café Trieste, what happens?

Well, after he emerges, after he comes out, he crosses paths with an old friend named Leo. He meets an old friend named Leo.

Leo says: I’m leaving San Francisco. I’m striking out on my own to see the world.

Is Leo traveling alone?

Exactly, yes. He’s striking out on his own. He’s traveling alone. He’s traveling by himself.

Is Leo striking out on his own to begin a business?

No, no, no, no, he’s striking out on his own to travel. He’s starting to travel alone. He’s not starting a business alone. He’s striking out on his own to travel, to see the world.

Is Leo striking out on his own or is he traveling with other people?

OK, it’s an easy question, right? He’s striking out on his own. He’s starting to travel by himself, alone.

OK, good. What does Andy say?

Well, Andy’s asked him: where are you going first? And Leo says: I’m going to Iraq. It’s very beautiful in the summer.

Two weeks later, Andy is in his home and he reads the newspaper and he sees a story. The story says that Leo was killed in Iraq. Andy says: It figures.

Is Andy surprised that Leo is dead?

No, no, he’s not surprised. He says: It figures, right? He expected this. He thinks: I’m not surprised. He says: It figures. It figures. I’m not surprised. It makes sense, Leo is dead.

Why does it figure? Why does it make sense?

Well because Iraq is very dangerous, right? So it’s not surprising he got killed in Iraq. It figures. It’s not surprising.

So Andy says: It figures, and then he says: Iraq is a very dangerous and insecure place. What an idiot!

Is Iraq a safe place, a secure place?

No, no, it’s the opposite. It’s a very insecure place. It’s not safe. It’s insecure.

Does Iraq change a lot? Do a lot of things change very quickly in Iraq?

Yeah, that’s right. It’s an insecure place. It’s not stable. It’s always changing. Different things, different bad things happening all the time. It’s insecure. It’s not safe.

Is America an insecure place?

Well maybe, but in general no, it’s not insecure. America is generally safe. It’s generally stable. It’s generally secure. So In general America is not insecure.

Is Colombia insecure?

Well, maybe, I’ve never been to Colombia. But in the news, it seems Colombia is not safe. There is a lot of drugs, and a lot of violence maybe in Colombia. So maybe Colombia is not secure, maybe Colombia is insecure. Parts of Colombia are insecure. Iraq is very insecure.

And so he says: What an idiot! Why did he travel to Iraq?

OK, very good. Let’s go back up again. This time, I will pause after the key phrases, please repeat them. You can also use your pause button if necessary. Here we go.

There is a hip guy named Andy (pause). Good, there is a hip guy named Andy (pause). Andy is nomadic (pause). Andy is nomadic (pause).

He can never stay in one place. He loves to roam from country to country (pause). He loves to roam from country to country (pause).

Good, but every summer he stays in San Francisco. When he’s in the city, his favorite hangout is the venerable café Trieste (pause). His favorite hangout is the venerable café Trieste (pause).

The café used to be the place, where San Francisco’s famous writers hung out (pause). The café used to be the place, where San Francisco’s famous writers hung out (pause).

It was the epicenter of the San Francisco arts movement (pause). It was the epicenter of the San Francisco arts movement (pause).

Good, one day, Andy emerges from the café (pause). One day, Andy emerges from the café (pause). He crosses paths with Leo (pause). He crosses paths with Leo (pause).

Leo says: I’m leaving San Francisco. I’m striking out on my own to see the world (pause). I’m striking out on my own to see the world (pause).

Andy asks him: Where are you going first? Leo say: I’m going to Iraq. It’s very beautiful in the summer. Two weeks later, Andy reads the newspaper and sees a story. The story says that Leo was killed in Iraq.

“It figures” says Andy (pause). “It figures” says Andy (pause). “Iraq is a very dangerous and insecure place (pause). Iraq is a very dangerous and insecure place (pause). What an idiot!”

Alright, that’s all. Please play this many times. Now pause and try to tell all of the story yourself.

See you next time. Bye-bye.