So I'm sitting in Burmese class, in which I am the only student, learning about my fruits and vegetables, so I can go to the market and ask for an orange, rather than hold my hands up as if I'm holding something small and spherical, and then proceed to get frustrated with the vendor because, for some reason, they can't discern that this means "orange" and not apple, or potato, or small desert mole. So, I find this lesson very valuable, but I was never prepared for the insight it would give me into the world view of Jews.
My teacher is writing each vegetable in English, and the phonetic translation of that word in Burmese. He goes down the list...spinach, carrot, tomato, cabbage, cucumber, Jew's ear, lett--Wait! What? Jew's ear? What the hell is that and why would I ever want to add it to my stir fry? My teacher goes on to enlighten me that this is what the Burmese call mushrooms...you know...because they look like a Jew's ear. I'm wondering if this guy has ever met a Jew and if so, feeling sorry for the poor chap who had a fungus like that of a mushroom sprouting from his ear. So, Burmese class ends and I a little more confident with my grocery shopping a little bit more perplexed by what it is the Burmese could possibly have against the Jews.
