Life in Jerusalem

Remember that raven in The Magician’s Nephew? The one who was the first joke in Narnia? It’s clear that God wants lots of laughter in the world, because I’m frequently a joke myself. Nearly always to my delight! I’m so thankful that the experience of semi-literacy that comes with learning a language is nearly always a source of lighthearted entertainment, and not frustration. Because the simplest things can be pretty complicated sometimes.

Take buying yeast. I went shopping with Mamma the other day, and that’s what she needed. I don’t know the word in Hebrew, so I decided to just comb the store for it. That didn’t work, so I finally worked up enough courage to approach a guy stocking the produce section. “Excuse me, do you speak English?”

He didn’t, but indicated willingness to work with me. So I continued in Hebrew, twenty-questions style: “It’s something for bread.”

“Flour?” he asked.

“No.”

“Shmarim?”

“I don’t know.” He was walking purposefully across the store while I kept giving him clues. “It’s like pickles…no! I mean leaven!” (It’s not so crazy in Hebrew, because chamutzim and chametz are related to ‘sour’ and sound alike!) We soon reached the refrigerated case, where he pulled out a cake of…. yeast. Yes! Shmarim it was. (And no, I still don’t know the word: I had to look it up in the dictionary. Maybe I should take it with me when I go shopping).

Maybe, but it might not be half as much fun!