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Monday, May 24, 2010

What's Hebrew for "partially hydrogenated oil"?

It's hard to be a health nut in a country where I don't speak or read the language.  Every nutrition label essentially looks like: &%^*&%*&^$^$#%$@.
I may be getting a little ahead of myself by worrying about the ingredients, considering I can't find the grocery store yet. (Don't worry mom.  There's a nearby convenience store with the basics as well as some fresh baked goods).
Getting acclimated to Be'er Sheva is going to be a slow, incredibly fun, process.  I love learning, and being in a place where I don't speak the language forces me to be constantly learning.
In one of the great films of all time, The Princess Bride, one of the characters repeatedly uses the term "Inconceivable!" which prompts one of the other characters to retort, "You keep using that word.  I do not think it means what you think it means."
The Israeli equivalent to "Inconceivable" is the phrase "Everyone speaks English".  I heard that phrase many times prior to coming to Israel.  I do not think it means what they think it means.  I discovered a little bookstore near the Shatil offices on my way to work today.  I wandered in hoping to find some children's books in Hebrew or, if I was really lucky, children's books in Hebrew with English translations.  I figure children's books are about the right difficulty level for me right now.  When I asked the owner of the shop if she had any such books I understood more clearly that "Everyone speaks English" really means "Everyone recognizes when you're speaking English and knows a few English words, which, when combined with pointing, smiling, and nodding, can lead you near your intended goal."  The closest she had to Hebrew-English books was Hebrew books with Russian translations.  I know my limits, so I decided not to add learning Russian to my list of things ToDo.
In the end, I walked away from the encounter with one book in Hebrew with lots of pictures, very few words, and no English (or Russian) translations.  I hope to be able to share the details of the story with you some time before I leave in 10 weeks.

5 comments:

  1. hilarious! If you write an entire post in Hebrew before you leave, I'll buy you a cupcake to congratulate you!

    Also, another thing to possibly look into are comic books. I don't know if there are any Hebrew super heroes... but it's a fun way to learn a new language. ; )

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  2. HAHAHA! You'll be a rock star by the end of the Summer! Sounds like a heckuvan adventure!

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  3. Really David... you're asking about Partially Hydrogenated OILS?! Good god. That's one of the funniest things I've ever heard! No one speaks English over here either... What the heck?!

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  4. now you can imagine what about me understanding English :D Am so excited that you are in one of many places that I want to visit.

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