No sun

"The air is heavy" Fr Kaswalder was ruminating along the corridor after lunch. Massimo Carlino, Jean Paul and I had just reached our floor after leaving the refectory downstairs. Fr Kaswalder pointed to Massimo and said "It's your first year here. Can you feel it? The air is heavy. You can cut it with a knife." Obviously Massimo didn't know what he was talking about. Jean Paul and I laughed. Fr Kaswalder explained "The air is thick with examination fever. The monastery is wrapped in silence; everyone locked in their rooms studying. Do you feel the tension?" All Massimo could do was laugh nervously. He has an exam. on Wednesday.

Yes the air was heavy not just inside the monastery but outside as well. All the shops are closed. Everyone in East Jerusalem is on strike to protest against the attacks in Gaza. The streets are empty. Even the tourists seem to avoid our area. It reminded me of the 1st Intifada when I was here years ago. A nervous tension running through the streets like an electric current - unseen but felt. I had to go to the Missionaries of Charity near Damascus Gate. The other friars were on their way to a funeral of a friar who died yesterday - Fr Francis Hugh O'Neill. I've never heard of his name, and neither have most fo the friars here. I wonder who he is and what he was doing in Jerusalem.

And the air was heavy - there was no sun today, just gloomy dark clouds and the cold cold wind blowing. I wonder if it'll rain tonight. They look like rain clouds to me.

I was working on analysing verse 2 of chapter 11 of the Book of Wisdom. It's very short, only 8 words. But it took me the whole day and probably tomorrow as well to analyse it minutely. By analysis I mean grammatical , etymological and syntactical description of each word. I'm doing it in Italian for the moment since Italian was the language used when I studied Greek grammar and syntax - and so I'm more used to the Italian grammatical terminology; but I'll translate it to English later for my thesis. It's a tiring work that requires total concentration on the text. But once started, it's hard to stop.

I recevied copies of the Kung Kao Po and Fai Chun (couplets of well-wishes) - thx. Now it'll feel more like Chinese New year as I put the Fai Chun on either side of my door. That would lighten alittle the heavy air lingering about.