Last night Tiana and I went to a friend's house where we were invited to join them in their Hanukkah celebration. Beyond being a GREAT learning experience to know about this Jewish holiday, over half of the people there were either deaf or hard-of-hearing -- one was even both deaf and blind! We were the second ones there and that means that at that point we were the only hearing people there. That means that we were relying solely on ASL. A bit later an interpreter and her hearing/non-signing husband showed up, but even so, as conversations do, we spent most of our time with the deaf with no real help from the interpreter! Tiana was particularly excited about her conversation with Ryan, the deaf-blind man! That was my first real experience talking with a deaf-blind person, too! We had some delicious chicken seasoned and cooked in olive oil, latkes (fried potato pancakes)and applesauce, green beans with a balsamic sauce, apple cider and strawberries. After dinner there was a white elephant gift exchange. Prior to the meal, the Shabbat (sabbath) candles were blessed and lit (both in Hebrew and then in English/ASL). After that, the men donned the yarmulke and a blessing again was recited in both Hebrew and English/ASL for the lighting of the Menorah. First the tallest candle was lit and then each of us was given the opportunity to take that tallest candle and light the next - right to left (as the Hebrew is read) until the whole Menorah was lit.
It was a very fun evening, although, both Tiana and I were getting pretty sleepy by the end, which is a very common phenomenon when using an unfamiliar language for an extended time! Thanks to Adam and Eric for offering us the opportunity to learn about Hanukkah and for Tiana, especially, to have an incredible experience using her ASL and expanding on it and experiencing, too, a "deaf" house -- the doorbell lights, the video phone message on the TV, the Blackberries, the language.
