So I was at the Office Depot on HaHashmonaim Street, waiting to pay for my notebooks and indelible ink markers, when the cashier - named Ofra, according to her nametag - cheerfully wished the 40-ish blonde man who had just paid for his purchases "chag sameach" (happy holiday).

To which he responded, in perfect Hebrew with only a hint of an unplaceable foreign accent, "Which holiday is that?"

Ofra and I looked at him in amazement and chorused, "Purim, of course!"

Bearing in mind that half the kids in town are already running around in fancy dress costumes, and that all the bakeries are selling hamantashen (get thee to a branch of Lechem Erez immediately: the chocolate hamantashen with chocolate filling are fantastic), and all the mega clubs - the new Ha'Oman 17 on Abarbanel Street, TLV and Dome - are importing DJs from London, Amsterdam and Stockholm for Thursday night's Purim parties, one would have to be living under a rock to be unaware of the approaching holiday. (Actually, I'm planning to hide under a rock this weekend: between Purim, Easter and the 5,000 Irish football fans expected to descend on Tel Aviv for the Israel-Ireland game, I reckon the city's going to be a total madhouse).

My guess is, the guy was one of those polyglot diplomats - probably Dutch - who has mastered the language but forgot to bone up on the local culture in the process. But still, weird.

Oh and by the way, if you happen to stop by one of Tel Aviv's major hotels anytime after Wednesday, do be sure to be pick up a free copy of City Mouse, the English-language version of Achbar Ha'Ir. And while you're at it, check out the name of the editor. (huge wink). I would've called it "Lisa's Guide to Tel Aviv," but I don't think they'd have let me.

Oh, and just for fun: I will send a copy of City Mouse to the first three people who guess correctly the name of the city in which I was born. Hint: it's not Toronto, nor is it Montreal. Send an email with your address to onthe_face [at] yahoo [dot] com. Family members and friends who already know the answer are excluded from participation in the contest, but I'll send you a copy if you ask really, really nicely.