So, my Hebrew class at JTS is (surprise!) actually not too bad. I can now understand Hebrew conversations, and my teacher is smart, quick and hilarious. I am currently exploring my Israeli accent, and I find it fades in and out. I am more likely to read like an American, but speak like a 'raeli, and if I learned the word or phrase before I went to Israel, chances are I'll say it like I learned it.
Today in class we were talking about Jewish Leap Years, vs. Solar Leap Years. I know, it doesn't sound so engaging, but...my teacher explained that the word for "Leap Year" in Hebrew is actually a biblical term for pregnancy, a "pregnant year." There was some fiddling around with Hebrew verbs in conversation, and then, she said this, more or less, in Hebrew:
"But not like what happened to the daughter of Palin. Nobody talks like that, says she was 'made pregnant.' She was 'entered into pregnancy' by that boy."
There was a (pregnant) pause. Did my teacher just make a joke about the would-be VP who tried to ban Harry Potter books (and pretty much the entirety of any respectable cultural literacy reading list) in Wasilla, AK? (Thanks, Metafilter.) (Apparently, she didn't try to ban all of those books. Snopes* says so.)
She totally did.
Things are looking up in the world.
*Snopes? I think I'm turning into my mother! Gah!
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