Me and My Telenovela
Sunday was a sad day here in Israel. That's because Sunday was the series finale of my soap opera "Telenovela B'am" (Telenovela Inc.)
When I first moved into my apartment, I was informed that we had cable TV. I haven't had a television in years, but I figured that since I was going to be sharing in the cost of the cable, I ought to start watching, too. But I decided I could use the opportunity to improve my Hebrew by watching only Hebrew programs. In fact, I could improve my Hebrew even more by watching Hebrew shows regularly with plot lines I could follow. There was only one solution: I needed to get addicted to an Israeli soap opera.
For the past three weeks, every evening at around quarter to eight I'd tidy up my living room. My friend Katie would leave her apartment a few blocks away, telling her flat mates that she was off to improve her intelligence by watching soap operas. At eight pm, she'd arrive and we'd grab some drinks, maybe a piece of fruit or some leftover cake from Shabbat and settle on the couch. At 8:06pm our show came on. We would watch in silence for forty minutes, the only conversation being the translation of words we'd look up on the dictionaries resting on each of our laps.
As soon as the show was over we'd start discussing. Often we'd be confused because of language issues. Even though the show had Hebrew subtitles along with the Hebrew dialogue, the characters often spoke too quickly for us to fully hear/read and understand what was going on. We'd consider what he said, what she really meant, when he was returning, and who she was going out with. I'd walk Katie home and her flatmates would ask who we were talking about. Telenovela B'am - of course!
If I was still unclear about exactly what had happened in the evening episode I had nothing to fear. At 4:25pm the next day, the previous day's re-run was aired. I liked watching the reruns because when I was not so caught up with the plot lines, I had time to look up more words and more fully understand the dialogue. [Brief summary of the soap opera: A TV station is filming a telenovela. All actors/producers/writers/directors are all living their own version of a telenovela amongst themselves. 20+ characters and nearly as many plot lines complicate things further. Comedy and drama ensue.]
Two weeks ago special advertisements started playing before and after our show, and after watching them a few times we realized what was going on - the series finale! It couldn't be! So soon?! We'd only begun watching a few weeks ago! Well it turns out that Israeli soap operas (unlike their American counterparts) are notoriously short. After five months of running on television daily, the show was about to end. What was going to happen?!
We rearranged our lives to be sure that nothing would disturb us on Sunday night. The Shabbat beforehand, Katie invited me over for a meal. Of course, halfway through dinner we started talking about our show. Was Niv back with his boyfriend? Who got Dana pregnant? Was Naftali going to attempt to murder his wife again? What about his mistress? Was Dana really going to try to kill Kfir on his wedding day? Would Raanana's parents show up for the ceremony? On and on, we discussed, boring the other guests at the table but too worked up in our telenovela to notice.
The fateful evening arrived. We watched the season finale with bated breath, dictionaries left aside for our gasps and claps and laughs. Let me tell you, Telenovela B'am ended perfectly. It was everything we'd hoped for our more. The good guys lived, together with their significant others. The bad guys were killed or arrested. Everyone was in love. Yay!
But now I miss Katie. Without her coming over every evening to watch our show, I don't get to see her as often. It's a good thing that Pardes is starting next week.
With-better-Hebrew-but-still-missing-her-TV-show,
sarah....
PS - Mazal Tov to Matthue on his wedding!
PPS - I bet you wish you were coming to my house tonight for Shabbat dinner. Israeli salad, Cabbage-mango salad, Eggplant Parmesan, Tofu fried rice, Broccoli Kugel, Lentils and tomatoes, and more! I'm finally learning how to cook!
This email and all my other recent ones can be found at http://hebrewish.blogspot.com.
When I first moved into my apartment, I was informed that we had cable TV. I haven't had a television in years, but I figured that since I was going to be sharing in the cost of the cable, I ought to start watching, too. But I decided I could use the opportunity to improve my Hebrew by watching only Hebrew programs. In fact, I could improve my Hebrew even more by watching Hebrew shows regularly with plot lines I could follow. There was only one solution: I needed to get addicted to an Israeli soap opera.
For the past three weeks, every evening at around quarter to eight I'd tidy up my living room. My friend Katie would leave her apartment a few blocks away, telling her flat mates that she was off to improve her intelligence by watching soap operas. At eight pm, she'd arrive and we'd grab some drinks, maybe a piece of fruit or some leftover cake from Shabbat and settle on the couch. At 8:06pm our show came on. We would watch in silence for forty minutes, the only conversation being the translation of words we'd look up on the dictionaries resting on each of our laps.
As soon as the show was over we'd start discussing. Often we'd be confused because of language issues. Even though the show had Hebrew subtitles along with the Hebrew dialogue, the characters often spoke too quickly for us to fully hear/read and understand what was going on. We'd consider what he said, what she really meant, when he was returning, and who she was going out with. I'd walk Katie home and her flatmates would ask who we were talking about. Telenovela B'am - of course!
If I was still unclear about exactly what had happened in the evening episode I had nothing to fear. At 4:25pm the next day, the previous day's re-run was aired. I liked watching the reruns because when I was not so caught up with the plot lines, I had time to look up more words and more fully understand the dialogue. [Brief summary of the soap opera: A TV station is filming a telenovela. All actors/producers/writers/directors are all living their own version of a telenovela amongst themselves. 20+ characters and nearly as many plot lines complicate things further. Comedy and drama ensue.]
Two weeks ago special advertisements started playing before and after our show, and after watching them a few times we realized what was going on - the series finale! It couldn't be! So soon?! We'd only begun watching a few weeks ago! Well it turns out that Israeli soap operas (unlike their American counterparts) are notoriously short. After five months of running on television daily, the show was about to end. What was going to happen?!
We rearranged our lives to be sure that nothing would disturb us on Sunday night. The Shabbat beforehand, Katie invited me over for a meal. Of course, halfway through dinner we started talking about our show. Was Niv back with his boyfriend? Who got Dana pregnant? Was Naftali going to attempt to murder his wife again? What about his mistress? Was Dana really going to try to kill Kfir on his wedding day? Would Raanana's parents show up for the ceremony? On and on, we discussed, boring the other guests at the table but too worked up in our telenovela to notice.
The fateful evening arrived. We watched the season finale with bated breath, dictionaries left aside for our gasps and claps and laughs. Let me tell you, Telenovela B'am ended perfectly. It was everything we'd hoped for our more. The good guys lived, together with their significant others. The bad guys were killed or arrested. Everyone was in love. Yay!
But now I miss Katie. Without her coming over every evening to watch our show, I don't get to see her as often. It's a good thing that Pardes is starting next week.
With-better-Hebrew-but-still-missing-her-TV-show,
sarah....
PS - Mazal Tov to Matthue on his wedding!
PPS - I bet you wish you were coming to my house tonight for Shabbat dinner. Israeli salad, Cabbage-mango salad, Eggplant Parmesan, Tofu fried rice, Broccoli Kugel, Lentils and tomatoes, and more! I'm finally learning how to cook!
This email and all my other recent ones can be found at http://hebrewish.blogspot.com.
posted by sarah @ 6:31 PM
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