A new day ....

Thanks to everyone who wrote to congratulate. Believe me it's really a relief not to have to worry about how long I can stay in Israel for my studies - and you know, standing in line at the visa section of the Ministry is harrowing because you don't know the procedure, and no one is there to explain things to you. It's all trial and error.

The mornings here are cold - 8 to 10 degrees. Everyone is talking about buying heaters. We do have central heating but it's turned on only in deep winter. The cost of keeping it running is too high and the house is simply too big - so we have to save. But on the other hand, we all feel cold right now and if everyone buys a heater for themselves, then the electric bill is going up all the same. Well maybe not that expensive as the heaters we get are those small things - a foot high and 8 inches across. I'll bet you all are made in China. Anyway Matthew my classmate from India wants one badly, so later today we'll go down Salahaddin Street to look for it. Salahaddin Street like I told you before (if you can remember what I wrote in my earliest blog) was the Nathan Road of East Jerusalem before the war. The Jordanian royalty used to come here shopping - it's reputed. Now it's a dirty, crowded street but still with lots of shops. And you always have to be sharp because the shop owners always pull a fast one on foreigners.

And the dust in Jerusalem is unimaginable - it collects and collects and you have to clean your room just about everyday. I think those dust particles are actually mini-hamsters in disguise: put two together and they breed like there's no tomorrow!

The sun is up though and the forecaste is no rain for the coming week. Bad for the farmers and shepherds. Because its dry, it exacerbates the dust problem.

The Dominicans are having a feastday today - St Albert the Great. It's the inauguration day for their Ecole Biblique (famous Bible school that teaches in french). I might go over at 10am to listen to the opening conference on St Paul. Meantime I'll do some cleaning in my room and read up on a couple of books that are due back in the Library - the librarian will be very upset if I don't return them in time!