Wadi Halfa' Local Custom Tips by maykal

If you've been to Aswan, you'll know all about the Nubians from the great museum there...and you'll know that many of the people who live around this region are Nubian. Those living in Wadi Halfa have their own dialect, called Halfawi or known simply as Rotana (dialect)...here are a few phrases to try out:
How are you? = Sikker fii?
I'm fine thanks/Good = Ashriyya
Goodbye = Affiyaloggo

and just in case you meet someone on the train, maybe you'll find this phrase useful:

I love you = Ay kadolyeri

Don't blame me if you get a slap in the face for it though ;@P

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Wadi Halfa doesn't seem much of a town, but it isn't really Halfa's fault...when the High Aswan Dam was built and Lake Nasser created, the old town of Wadi Halfa was flooded and the inhabitants moved. Some chose to build a new settlement on the banks of the new lake, which became Wadi Halfa, while others were relocated to a small town in Kassala State called Halfa al-Jedida (New Halfa). Many families are split between the two towns, so it is not so surprising if you meet Halfawis in Kassala or Kassalawis in Halfa.

Some old books have pictures of Halfa before it was engulfed...many villages and fertile land were lost, although UNESCO mounted an operation to save ancient monuments, most famously Abu Simbel just north of the border.

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