Kapayim L'Dov!

So I can't believe I forgot to share this very amusing Ariella story. I apologize in advance for those of you who heard this story before - feel free to skip to the next paragraph.
On Sunday, we were at the park in Bet Shemesh. After the running around portion of the program, Ariella decided to play school. She, of course, was the teacher, complete with a stick. We were sitting on benches and she was speaking in this mix of Hebrew and English-with-an-Israeli-accent, rolling her r's and everything. She was asking everyone's Hebrew name and writing it in the dirt with her stick. When she got to my father (whose name is Bernard, Bern, Bernie) he told her his Hebrew name, Dov. Well, Ariella found this very amusing. She asked who wanted to get in the line, and Dov, being a good sport, followed along. He had to follow the line she was drawing in the dirt, and apparently he did a very good job, because when he was done, she burst out enthusiastically, "Kapayim L'Dov!" (kapayim = clap your hands). We were cracking up, and for the rest of the evening would randomly shout out, "Kapayim L'Dov!" I am actually still announcing it sporadically throughout the day.

Today was a very rewarding day in ulpan. Loyal readers, today in ulpan, we learned...Nivim! That's right! The very topic I so ridiculed in earlier posts! Our teacher was explaining how "pitgamim" (that's what she called them, but I know nivim when I see them) enrich the language. So that's what I was doing in Ivrit all those years in Bais Yaakov - enriching the language! Thank you, Mrs. Steinhart! Not only that, but the very second pitgam that she taught us was..........tovim hashnayim min ha'echad! Let me tell you, I was the Pitgam Queen - she only had to start the phrase and I was spitting out the rest. Al ta'am v'rayach ayn l'hitvakayach! Kol hatchalot kashot! It was so fulfilling to be able to put those years of memorization to good use. If only they gave out Nivim Certificates...I could work toward a degree in Nivimography....

Today, back to Supersol. More pressure to sign up for the credit card. Not sure I can withstand much more. Starting...to....crack....must.....stay....strong.....just say no.... (This is your wallet. This is your wallet with a Supersol credit card.)

After ulpan, my internet/phone wasn't working. I had to call HOT, our internet/phone provider and describe, in Hebrew, what the problem was. That part was ok, ("lo ovdim") but then, she started giving me directions, (in HEBREW, in case you weren't sure), telling me what I should do to fix it! Remember Donny's lack of rhythm? Well, I have a similar, if not more severe, lack of Ability to Fix Things. I can barely understand these guys in English. They always want you to unplug and replug and I'm never sure what they are talking about. I end up unplugging everything in the house, including the lamps, all the clocks, and the fridge, just to be safe, and then the problem still remains until Donny comes back and flicks something and then it's all better. But I couldn't wait for Donny to return - I NEED my internet. So I tried to pay attention about which cable to unplug and whatnot. ("Cable," by the way, is "cable" in Hebrew.) I think I followed the directions correctly, although she could have been telling me to take out the white plug, stick it in my ear and then stand on the mirpeset, yodeling, but I'm pretty sure I would have understood "ozen." In any case, she did a little research and found out many people in the building were having this problem and they would send someone out to fix it. Surprisingly, by the time Ariella and I returned from shopping, it was indeed fixed. And I didn't have to put anything in my ear.

By the way, to those of you - and you know who you are, Shoshana Bender - who give me mussar (mussar in Hebrew) for not posting often enough and THEN don't even bother to join the Loyal Readers Club or leave a comment....well, all I have to say to you is, "No Poofahs for you!"

PS Don't forget to vote!
PPS You can still earn poofahs, like Momz and Jenny, if you have good "rock" ideas. (See earlier post).