Coping With Ivrit (Hebrew)

“Doesn’t everyone speak English in Israel?” We heard this a lot when speaking with friends about our trip.

Yes and no. Many Israelis, especially those in business and technology, and of course those in the service and tourism industries, speak English comfortably. Others can speak a sort of pidgin English if they have to, but they prefer not to (who can blame them). And others just don’t speak any English.

Thus, coping in Hebrew has provided some frustrating, and comical, moments in our first two weeks here.

It is not a level playing field for Ellen and me. I lived in Israel for almost one year between high school and college and learned a decent amount of Hebrew then, although I was far from fluent. I forgot a lot over the years, but did some self study in the months leading up to our trip. Ellen, by contrast, knows almost no Hebrew. She took some beginner classes last year at the Scarsdale Y, but that’s about it.

My problem is that I can usually make myself understood when I start a conversation, but then it often escalates out of control when the other party starts speaking way too fast with too many words I don’t know. Then I have to either retreat to English or tell the person I have no idea what he or she just said.

Today I had to buy a couple of those insulated lunch boxes for the kids. I went to the Home Center store. I know how to say “lunch” and “box”, but I was pretty sure that those two words together in Hebrew would mean nothing. And I have no idea how to say “insulated.” So I approached a sales clerk and said a sentence in Hebrew that translates roughly to the following:

“I am looking for a small bag for children for lunch for school and the food is cold inside.” She looked at me like I was an idiot but directed me to the right place. These encounters can be humiliating.

But I can hardly complain about humiliation because Ellen is having a rougher time. She has to start practically every interaction with an Israeli – on the street, in a store, wherever – by trying to communicate that she speaks English, not Hebrew. Except that it often comes out sounding vaguely Spanish. You see, Ellen speaks some Spanish, and apparently her brain has one memory register for foreign languages because what little Hebrew she knows is being spiced up with Spanish words here and there. Often the other person knows English, and the conversation then proceeds smoothly. But if the other person does not speak English, then Ellen is reduced to gesticulation to make herself understood. Today Ellen was in a store trying to buy shoe laces. When she pointed to her feet, everyone thought she wanted to buy shoes. So she started crawling around looking for shoelaces to point to, but everyone was wearing sandals. I must say, Ellen is being a very good sport about the language issue.

Other news:

School starts tomorrow. The twins will be in separate classes – whoa!

We had our first sushi in Israel last night. It will be our last sushi in Israel.

We’re looking forward to our first visitors from the US next week.

Ironically, we are less on top of the Gaza news than we would be from home, partly because we were so busy this week getting ready for school and partly because of the lack of good English news. What we can tell you is that even those who strongly support the “Hitnatkut” (evacuation) are extremely anguished about people being forcibly removed from their homes.

First Days

Great Timing on that Shoulder Operation

Last Wednesday we arrived at Newark Airport with 16 bags in two heavily laden SUVs. We checked 11 bags weighing about 450 pounds, including eight enormous army duffels, and carried on five more pieces. The skycap seemed unfazed, as did the clerk at the check-in counter. Apparently families schlepping their lives back and forth to Israel is not uncommon. The flight left right on time. We were all glad to be finished with the goodbyes.

At the other end the only tense moments occurred while transporting this massive load, plus our half asleep kids, from the baggage carousel through customs. It took three incredibly overloaded baggage carts, with Ben somehow pushing one, but we did it. A van met us on the other end, and a short time later we were at our new house.

Overall, the trip went much more smoothly than expected.

Without the Chlorine

The Mediterranean Sea in August is as warm as a heated pool in Scarsdale. It’s spectacular to look at and swim in, although unexpectedly rough. Our neighborhood in Herzliya is called Nof Yam, which means “Sea View.” We’ve spent two of our four afternoons so far at the Nof Yam beach, about a half mile from our house. On Friday night we watched the sun set into the water.

At the beach we see some Muslim families. The men and young children wear ordinary bathing suits. But the adolescent girls and women wear complete body covering, as they would on the street – and they go all the way into the water like this!

Really Looking Forward To…

Our first laundry. The washing machine is currently not operational. And after it is fixed, scheduled for Wednesday, we are not sure how we will use it since the operating panel is in German. Anybody know what “Schleudern" means?

“Honey, is this chicken?”

During the day, when not sleeping, we have focused on stocking up the house with food and other supplies. Ellen has done most of the grocery shopping, which is a challenge since she can’t read most of the labels. Mostly the packages have contained what she expected. In the grocery store there are fewer American brands than expected. One of the few Levy staples that has made an appearance in Israel is Cheerios.

We also did an excursion to Ace Hardware, as well as a store whose name is “Home Center” spelled out in Hebrew letters. We are now the proud owners of new bath mats, garbage pails, pillows, brooms, mops and similar items. I wonder if our newly acquired Ace Hardware discount card (6% off on all purchases) will work back home.

The business of life will start this week – opening a bank account, getting cable TV and internet installed, interviews for the kids at school, which starts on August 18. But before then we are planning an overnight trip to Jerusalem with our friends Nomi and Dani DiCastro, who live near Haifa. I met Nomi when I spent a year in Israel before college. Nomi met Dani in the army. His real name is Claudio -- his family is of Italian descent -- but since he’s Israeli, what the hell, he calls himself Dani. They have three kids, ages 12, 8 and 7.

In the News

Benjamin Netanyahu resigned today from the Israeli Cabinet to protest the Gaza Disengagement plan, which was then approved by the Cabinet to take place next Sunday, August 15. On the roads of Israel citizens display their opinions on the plan with banners on their car antennas – blue means pro-Disengagement, orange means against. Polls show that 75% of the Israeli public supports the Gaza Disengagement but there are more orange banners than blue banners on the cars.