Bye Thiago

Well, I should have rested yesterday .... but things continued to overtake. Got a morning call from Sr. Regina (an African missionary sister of Calvary - spanish congregation) that I had to pick up an Easter gift in the morning. I managed to push it off till the afternoon. Fell asleep for only 15 minutes and then at 4pm had to go to the Holy Sepulchre to return some liturgy books I borrowed; (I was so tired and walking like a zombie, Mahmoud the cameraman came up to wish me happy easter and asked if I was ok as I looked very ill and lost/confused) then went down to Sr Regina's convent - the first time I've been inside. It's beautiful, clean and bright. They had baked me a cake ... very nice of them. Well what preceded this was Maundy Thursday, when we finished praying in the Garden of Gethsemani, I saw from among the 15,000 people some of the sisters. The walk up the Kidron valley to their convent is almost 2 km up a steep hill, so I offered them a ride in our bus. They were very thankful for that ... hence the cake! Oh and they asked me to stay and rest awhile and have a cup of tea and traditional arab Easter cookies baked like a crown of thorns and the sponge (filled with vinegar, but in this case filled with dates). I must look like a wreck because everyone can see I'm sleepless and tired. Earlier Arafat another cameraman caught up with me at the 9th Station and asked if I was sick because I looked really bad.

Before I went to the Holy Sepulchre, I had to rush off to Bethlehem to say goodbye to my best friend Thiago, at 2pm. Our janitor Jadallah who nearly cut off his left hand yesterday in an accident, insisted on coming back to work, and he drove me to Bethlehem with one hand. He's a workaholic. Anyway I managed to meet Thiago in Nativity Square in front of the Basilica of the Nativity. We had a quick moment to say goodbye. He is really my best friend - he looks out for me and instinctively knows what I want for my filming (Thiago was my cameraman and editor). But above all he knows how to make me laugh. Thiago has a problem with his right shoulder (his filming shoulder) that caused inflamation and pain. He needs to go back to Brasil for medical care, but also eventually to marry Adileine; and he is not likely to be posted back here in Israel. But he'll be so happy back in Brasil. But the crew will miss him. I guess having to lose Thiago had also taken a toll on me. I'll never get another collaborator who can read my mind like him; and a friend who cares for my real needs, and not impose his/her own on me. He kept telling me to stay healthy and that I have to go to Brasil for his wedding.

And before that at 1.30pm some Italian friends stopped by and I was in the parlour chatting with them - have to help arrange their wedding here in Jerusalem. And before that was lunch. And before lunch I was catching the canaries with our cook Khalil to put them into 4 breeding cages. It took 3 hours to clean the cages, prepare the nesting material, food etc.. before catching them which is the toughest part. By the way the turtledove that managed to build its nest on the drainpipe has laid a second clutch of eggs. The first batch hatched and the two baby turtledoves have flown away.

So yesterday I had no rest at all, much as I wanted to. let's see if I'm lucky today.