Duuuuuuuh!

Well I got some responses alright! It ranged from people who thought I was upset to people who were worried that the blog was taking too much of my study time. It goes to show how important face-to-face communication is - through the Internet, one is unable to hear inflection of voice, body language and other elements of human communication. I think despite the ease that the Internet has provided in linking people together, it has impoverished us in other ways. Anyway it was good to hear from you guys - like I told many of you, it's a faceless world out there in cyber space and there is some unease as to where exactly these blogs end up. At least now I know.

Yesterday I did a marathon of work. Skipped lunch and read / wrote an important article. Feelt good when the article was completed - sense of accomplishment. Now that I got that one aside, I'll have to start on another. A professor saw me in the library and said "It's Sunday, you shouldn't be working". Like duuuh, I'm here in Israel precisely to do research and Sunday is the best time because no one else is using the library - nice and very quite.

At 3pm I got hungry so I cooked 2 packets of Instant noodles. I always get diarrhea after eating this. So this time I thought through it, and figured the cause was the following - I use unfiltered tap-water to cook it and well, I don't exactly "cook" it. You see, I don't have a pot to boil it in, so I just boil water from the kettle in the Sala Caffe and pour over the noodles and soak it till it gets soft. Probably not a good thing, right? Hmmmm so that's the price for laziness. Time for improvement - but you know local time ..........

Last night I brought Fr Massimo Carlino (the guy who sits next to me during meals in the refectory & is interested in Fr Allegra's work) and Jean Paul (he asked me several times) to the only chinese restaurent in Jerusalem. We had a simple dinner - wonton soup, rice, sweet-sour pork (not kosher!!!), toufu & mushrooms, stir-fried veggies. Simple right? The bill? US$100. I was prepared to wash dishes in the kitchen, to tell you the truth! Anyway before we left I told the Dean I was going out for dinner. He said good, I should go out once in a while. See, I'm a good boy who stays at home most of the time! (*The important thing is people notice that!!!*) The walk to the restaurent was nice. Uphill all the way, in the cool. Saw many familiar buildings lit up and recalled how the place looked like 15 years ago. Things have changed so much. The walk back was alot slower because Jean Paul was too full to walk. When we neared the monastery gate, there was a group of youths bullying another teenager. Usually I don't want to get involved - but this time I pitied the poor kid. They stopped when we approached, so I told Massimo to stay on with me for a little while in the street. The bullies didn't want to start bullying in front of me (most know me), and those few seconds gave the kid a chance to run away. Good deed for the day.

The Gospel reading today was the hot topic at breakfast. Jesus said to invite the blind, cripple, deaf etc.. to meals. Fr Buscemi was the first to make a remark in the refectory - he said this Gospel passage is fulfilled right here in the refectory: and pointed to me! Everyone laughed, and the discussion started as to how much I fulfilled this passage. Cripple - swollen left ankle; blind - poor eyesight (I really got to change my spectacles, honestly); deaf - selective of course! But everyone agreed I wasn't mute. I don't spare them my sharp tongue you know! Don't think that once I stopped teaching you guys, I don't get practice! Lots of targets here: like verbal sparring with Sr. Geronima.The score is still 1-0.

Fr Carlo the superior said after breakfast that it's time to clean the canary cage again, so I'll do it after lunch. He loves the canaries but is too old to take care of them. But right now, it's back to the library.