Our little Babe

We had our 20 week doctor visit this morning. From what I had read, this was the best time (best chance) of seeing whether we're having a boy or a girl. Apparently it only gets harder to see as the time goes by. Well, we may just have to wait until that April day to find out. We didn't have a good look today either. Oh well, surprises are good too.

Weekend Fun

Mad Gab and Songs

Mad Gab

Hebrew class is suddenly difficult but that's not a bad thing. The first two weeks were mainly review for me but now we are in new territory. Homework tends to take me a while to finish because I read like I am six years old. Look at the word. Wonder what gibberish this is. Decide I am going try to sound it out. Make the noises. Say it out loud slowly and then try to pick up speed. I realized the other week that many words in Hebrew remind me of the game Mad Gab. I have to read it out loud to understand it. These are frequently adopted foreign words but the pronunciation is slightly different than our English equivalents and its not just saying the English word with a Hebrew accent. I have to work harder than that. (fyi, Hebrew is read right to left so really I should put the Hebrew words hugging the right side of the page but that also gives me font problems :)

וידאו = vee-day-oh......Video
מיונז = mah-yoh-nez.......Mayonnaise
שוקולד = shoh-koh-laud.....Chocolate

Here's a fun one:
קוקה קולה = koh-kah koh-lah.....Coca Cola

But these are the worst and they took me the longest:
אלקטרויקה = eh-leckt-row-nee-kah.....Electronics (said kind of like "electronia" but different syllables are emphasized)
קומוניקציה = koh-moo-nee-kahts-ee-ah.....Communication
פרופסור = this one looks like "pah-roh-phos-ur" without the vowels...so it is one of those lovely ones where the vowels have to be memorized (plus where the vowels are IN the word) when you first learn the word because you'll never see the complete vowels in Modern Hebrew. So really, its "pro-phes-ur".....Professor.

Songs

In class yesterday I learned an Israeli children's song. Shawn learned this one over the summer and now its my turn. Click on the title below for translation. I think the song was written to encourage self confidence.

Ani Ohev Chocolat (I Love Chocolate)

Another random Hebrew bit is how to say you've immigrated. "Yosi made Aliah (Ali-AH) 10 years ago" is the same as "Yosi immigrated to Israel 10 years ago." I've only heard this from English conversations but I guess its the Hebrew word...now adopted into English! Or at least Israeli English.

The Negotiation

Several weeks ago I began the Negotiation Phase. I started to really miss the states and things familiar. I started rejecting most of the local food, too.

A few things I struggle with:

- No buses on Shabbat. Really inconvenient when I want to travel outside Jerusalem on our weekend.
- Shawn having class on Sunday. We knew the work week would be Sun-Thurs for the most part, but I really miss going to church on Sunday mornings with Shawn and having a Christian Sabbath.
- Kosher food. It just doesn't taste right and a lot of good hard cheeses are not kosher and therefore a pain to find.
- The price of everything except chemically grown veggies is expensive.

I am now starting to settle in to life here. Its still really hard sometimes and there are days when I am accosted with a memory of Chicago or I suddenly think I want to ride my bike to Glen Ellyn. I guess the humor in that is how I hated Chicago the first year (at the very least). But I started looking for positive things here and couldn't see any for a while! However, here are some good things to list:

- The children (all kinds!) here are so much fun to watch. On the bus to class, I get a good dose of Jewish religious children on their way to school and all dressed in the same style. I probably won't be brave enough to ask to take their pictures but I did find some photos that will give a good idea of what I see -- Kaparot Ceremony
- Bagels. Wonderful fluffy things for 4 shekalim each (about $1).
- Sharp cheddar can be found...at a price.
- We found a CSA (community supported agriculture) farm that delivers and our first shipment of clean veggies is coming next Wednesday. Let's hope its worth it!
- I can eat hummus again without gaging.

I hope to continue to add to the "like" list. And maybe some non-food items...

RSS?

Have you heard the term "RSS" but you haven't been given instructions on how to start? Would you like to subscribe to my blog (or others) but you don't know how to do it?

I think a good place to start is this article by a blogger I follow:

How to Subscribe by RSS


Let me know what you think. You can also subscribe to particular web searches you use often.