Let's begin with a laugh.
Hebrew and other assorted language errors of the past month (the ones I can remember)
Hebrew word for yes: Ken
Hebrew word for nest: Ken
Why is this relevant to my life?
Well, for all of the time (just over a month) that I have been in the NICU, we make the babies these little nests out of cloth diapers. It helps then to feel more secure. So a few weeks ago, I was being shown how to make this nest. I make one. Then the nurse I'm following comes over and asks me something and I say yes (ken). I often just answer people without pausing to see if I understood everything. So she asks me again. I say yes (ken). Finally I say, wait. What's this thing called? (Pointing to the nest). So she says Ken.
Haha. Then I explained my confusion. Hopefully I seemed less like a total idiot. We both got a good chuckle out of that one.
Update, yesterday I was working, and I had prepared a nice little nest (ken) for a new baby. A different nurse comes over and tells me that even though this particular baby is in an open crib and not the incubator, I can still put the Kees, into the crib. I am thinking, hmm, kees means pocket, so what in the world is she referring to. So I point to the nest and say, umm, is kees another word for ken. She looks at me like I am loony and says, yes. (which ps, is also the same word for nest)
I cant make this stuff up people!
That is my biggest Hebrew funny of this past month. I have plenty of other times where I start speaking and then completely blank. Like, I cannot even pull out the words in English, so forget Hebrew. I just stare at people until my brain reboots. Like, when I put a blood test into our machine, and wanted to tell my head nurse that, before I went out to grab some coffee, that yes, I had put it in there. But I could not remember the word for machine or the word for this specific machine. So after trying a few words, I say, I put it in the, whatever. So she says in Hebrew, centifuga? I'm like, dang, I cant even remember an English word. Hello, centrifuge.
Then there was the time this week where I was speaking for a while to a few English speaking families at work (I love when I get them as patients) and then I walk over to my head nurse to ask a question and I asked her the entire question in English. Now, I am sure she speaks English or at least understands it. But it took me a few seconds to figure out why she was staring at me. That must be what I look like most of the time. Oops. Switched to Hebrew and got an answer.
And then we have the language issue of patients families who neither speak Hebrew, nor English. Sometimes one spouse speaks some Hebrew or understands some English. But it is a lot of pantomiming or asking other staff members who speak their language. Next language on my list is Arabic, maybe in a few years when my Hebrew is more solid.
KIDS
Well, the summer is officially here and the kids are all over the place.
Kid #1 - working at a Judaica store. Not sure what he does, but he sold himself to the owner as someone who can help with anyone who doesn't speak Hebrew but wants to shop in the store. Apparently the owner does not speak English. I think he shleps boxes, sells stuff and sits around a lot. But he is happy, his boss seems happy and I am just glad he is not working in food service. (I have seen him in my kitchen.) Then he will spend a few weeks at Tzofim camp, where his job is DJ. And then he and his friends are planning to work on a farm/kibbutz somewhere way way way up north for a few days or a week. Because they can!
Kid #2 - she is spending three weeks at Hacker Camp in Jerusalem. I cannot even explain how cool it seems, so I will link you. Then she will go to Tzofim camp and then two weeks of surf camp. Because Israel!
Kid #3- she refused to do most things I suggested for the summer. So she is busy with netball practice a few times a week, piano lessons crash course for a few weeks, and then soon she heads up to Haifa for the junior Maccabiah games to play netball. Then off to Tzofim camp and then back home to complain that she is bored. At least she has conquered important tasks like organizing her knitting.
Kids #4 - he is doing 6 weeks of the same Hacker Camp as kid #2. Then also Tzofim camp, and then a few weeks home. Today Hacker Camp has taken my kids to Shuk Machane Yehuda for a scavenger hunt and food tasting and who knows what else. Jealous!
WORK IN GENERAL
So, I am just over a month into my new job and I am about to be set off on my own. I am so happy that I switched jobs and hospital units, but wow, NICU has so much to learn. Here are a few things I have done to keep my sanity while I navigate this new world and job.
#1 - text with a friend in America who has been a NICU nurse for almost 20 years. Also, she is almost always awake.
#2 - Facebook message a different friend, same story
#3 - take a coffee break every shift, I have learned form my last job to ASK, and they are very good here about making sure everyone gets a break. My hospital has a mall. Once I even went to it and got a sandwich! Big Day!
#4 - ask to do skills even when I am scared to do them. Because I had better learn them now while I have supervision
#5 - after successfully placing a feeding tube, totally alone, on a brand new, 2.5lb baby, it is possible that I high-fived that baby's teeny hand. Now I am wondering if anyone else saw me.
#6 - when I try and calm a baby while taking blood or something like that, I say, awww, you're okay, you're going to be okay, you're doing a good job. I am not sure if I am talking to the baby or to myself most of the time.
WHAT ELSE IS NEW?
I am enjoying my new part time work schedule. It gives me time for important things like laundry, eating Israeli breakfasts and even seeing my kids. I even managed to spend a whole day with one teenager, do an art project, go shopping and eat lunch, and we are all alive to tell the tale. It was even fun (I hope she agrees). She has, gasp, asked to do it again!!!
DOG
Well, Goldie is still stuck in her puppy stage. Someone remind me again why I got a dog? Should have just gone for having twins again! But seriously, she is a lot of fun when she is being normal. We have finally braved the dog parks, and go only when they are empty. She has discovered how much fun it is to run like a lunatic and then flop over. She is also enjoying her occasional visits back to her homeland, the farm where she was born. She goes for days where no one is home here and she gets to exhaust herself playing with her puppy friends. Although last time we picked her up, it seemed like the puppies were bullying her and she was put with two big Golden Retrievers. Perfect for my 8lb dog who thinks she is a big dog.
LIFE IN ISRAEL
Well, we continue to be very happy with our decision to move ourselves here. I mean, sure, I still have not found where to shop for certain things, or how to be a bit pushier, but we love life here. We feel less stressed, our kids have amazing opportunities that they would not have had in NJ, their education seems better and they seem happier.
My biggest fear about moving here was that I would never learn Hebrew. And here I am, making embarrassing mistakes every single day, but working in an intense job, in Hebrew. And ordering food in Hebrew, going to the doctor, speaking to the schools, all in Hebrew. Sure, some people act like they cannot understand me,. And I probably sound like a three year old with a bad accent. But then there are the others who act like they understand me perfectly and promise me things will get easier. One day I might even conquer speaking to my neighbors in Hebrew, emphasis on the maybe. I am really just helping them to practice their English.
