ISL Family Signs and a Fulbright Family Thanksgiving

The weekend after the hike I took it easy, caught up on some data and house cleaning, etc. During the week I’m still just studying and researching. In our Israeli Sign Language class we learned some kinship terms. At the time I think I had a bit to say about it, but a month later now I’ve forgotten (one of these days my blog will catch up to life). ;-)

But I did come right home and make a video in ISL, and subsequently retold it in ASL and commented on the process in ASL:

Basically in the video I say that today in class we learned signs for family members so I created a short story to share my new vocabulary with you all. In the story there is a young boy and girl who fall in love, date for a while, and eventually get married when they are 27 years old (practicing my ISL numbers). At the wedding the groom breaks the traditional glass in remembrance of the temple's destruction in 70 AD. A few years later they have a daughter and a couple years after that, a son. So now the daughter has a brother. (Isn't it clever and subtle how I worked those words in? ;-)) The daughter grows up and meets a boy, falls in love, and also at 27, gets married. A few years later she gives birth to twins. Now the parents are also grandparents because they have grandchildren. The brother is now an uncle. He is still single, but has a dog. The End.

ASL has very specific mouth movements for the language that are different from English. A couple years ago when I learned some Italian Sign Language (LIS), my teacher was adamant that we not move our mouths most of the time. Now as I am learning ISL, I am learning how important it is to mouth Hebrew words along with many of the signs (even though ISL and Hebrew have different grammars). It has been funny that my hands have to slow down with the ISL because my mouth cannot keep up! And sometimes I pick up Hebrew words from signers, by lipreading, but of course then I know how to move my lips appropriately, but don't necessarily know how to pronounce the word aloud. :)

A lovely tale, isn't it? Quite complicated to tell when most of the words are brand new. :)

The Thursday after this, I head down to Tel Aviv with two of the other Fulbright fellows for Thanksgiving dinner.

I was just talking to a friend from California and saying how surreal it is that places like Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Tiberias are all just a bus or train ride away. And that I sometimes go to these places for meetings and dinners with friends, as if they're just another city! (But even so, I find myself staring out the window wide eyed as we go.) I lived in Washington, DC for two years, and that never became run-of-the-mill to me, either. Every single Monday night as my running group passed by Iwo Jima and looked down the national mall at the monument, memorials, and capitol all lit up, I could not help but slow a step or two and take a deep breath at the sight. Every single week! Same goes for here: I don't expect to ever become completely unimpressed by the long, complex history that this land has seen, and continues to live.

The Thanksgiving dinner was delicious. It was wonderful to see the other Fulbrighters again and catch up a bit, though there never seems to be enough time. There was the traditional turkey, and the not-quite-as-traditional beef. There were potatoes in a kind of cinnamon and onion sauce that was drool-worthy delicious. There were yams sliced and cooked to just the right semi-mushiness. There was a green dish reminiscent of green bean casserole, corn bread, and rolls. Beautiful!
And on the tables, let it not be unappreciated, there were traditional Israeli salads. We all laughed at the sight. No meal in Israel could be complete without them. Our dinner was indeed complete. :)
Dessert was an adventure. Remember that any meal catered in Israel will be kosher. Since we had meat, that means there was no dairy. Included in the desserts. ;-) One was orange, so I dubbed it a Pumpkin Pie reference. One choice was a kind of cranberry muffin, which seemed quite fitting. And a third was a sort of pecan pie concoction. I missed our family's traditional Dutch Apple Pie, but my waist line appreciated the parva sweets. :)


Before going I was able to gather blog addresses from many of the other fellows, so I am thrilled to be able to follow them online as well as catch up on our periodic gatherings. :-)

The next morning I got up early to skype with my family in California while they celebrated Thanksgiving, and then loaded up and head with the international school down to the Dead Sea and a hike through En Gedi for the weekend.