Ani Jen

Now I'm taking (well, Ben and I are taking) a Hebrew class. It's very stressful to start a new language and feel completely lost. I couldn't even come up with the word for "I" when asked in the first class last week. The teacher was like, uh oh, you know the alphabet but no vocabulary? I didn't say that I knew all sorts of words, like "baruch," "menorah," "mitzvah" (and "bar" and "bat"), "ish" and "ishah," "mikvah," and the jewish list goes on and on. I guess my knowledge of Hebrew isn't very applicable to an everyday conversation. If I can't say, "Hello, my name is Jen, and you?" I can't communicate in the most basic way, let alone carry on a conversation! So, last week I learned some vocabulary:

Shalom, ani Jen. V'at?

After the teacher said "ani" is "I," I realized I already knew that, because of the inscription on my wedding band, "ani l'dodi v'dodi li" (I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine). I guess it literally translates like this: I am of my beloved, and my beloved is of me. I know "l'" is "of." I can't even remember learning these words in French. I am too advanced for my French class and can barely keep up in my beginning Hebrew class.