EGAD

Milestones

Chalk up two notable events for 28 February.

Yesterday, for the first time, I noticed myself hearing things in Hebrew. As opposed to stuttering English translation in my head. Not everything, or even very much. My vocabulary is still too limited, my comprehension too slow, to follow most conversation. But it's an important step.

The phrase that caught me was "lamma lo?" Means "why not?" Or failed to catch me, might be more accurate, since the important bit is what I noticed not happening for a change. Fitting, I think.

And speaking of language aquisition, my big word for the day was "pitrie'ot" -- mushrooms. Which suggests (I haven't checked) that the singular is something like "petr'ah." Anyone who knows my cooking might be suprised that I didn't learn that until now. Phonological -- and visual -- parallels aside, I'm pretty certain there is no relationship to Latin's "petrus."

Second? My original visa expired yesterday. As did my original return ticket. I'm now on extended time.