Chill out

Took yesterday and today as chill out days ... didn't study during the day (read some books in the night though) as I was just too strung to do anything. Yesterday I snapped at Lorenzo when I misheard what he said ... but later when I realised what he actually said, I went back to his room and apologised. He was ok with it as he knew I was at breaking point. He told me to take a vacation. Today it was Entre the Transylvanian who got a tongue-lash from me. But he deserved it. No apologies for that!

I told the Dean I wanted a couple of days to chill out and he said ok. So yesterday I cleaned my room and planted the geraniums in 8 flower boxes downstairs. Elias - who serves as my unofficial bodyguard; he calls me his "brother" - whom I have known for 20 years, came to see how I was doing after the operation; and he exchanged his 2 canaries with ours in order to spread the gene pool of our broods.

Later in the afternoon a german lady fainted in our courtyard. We weren't sure if it was fatigue, heatstroke, haert-attack etc... so an ambulance was called. Well, it's Jewish and they don't want to enter our Quarter without armed security. I said according to the Accord, no weapons are allowed in religious houses. But seeing the german lady in need, I decided to close one eye and let the two armed police enter our courtyard with 3 para-medics and 4 student medics. And ... it drew so much attention all the arab neighbours came over to see what was happening. I took the opportunity to get to know them, exchange a few words here and there. Got to know Yusuf, who's the son of the photographer Haymed ... he wasn't as nasty as I thought. Then I learned that Achmed comes from the Tanhouri clan - Achmed is very selfconscious that he's a muslim and he would never speak to me in public when other muslims are around; he only speaks to me when no one sees or is within earshot. When I walk pass him while he's with his muslim pals, we pretend not to know each other. That's how great the religious divide is in our area. Muslims and christians don't speak to each other - at least not openly. Anyway the armed police and para-medics brought the lady to Ramat Rachel Medical Center (near Bethlehem) and the crowd dispersed.

Then when it was dark, I decided to take a long walk in the New City. Stopped at the chinese restaurant and it was bustling with people. But the boss, Ah Ling told me to sit in a corner and after a few minutes she brought out a big bowl of porridge and mui-choy ... not on the menu obviously but what the workers cook for themselves to eat. Really really nice. And I didn't have to pay for it! Ah Ling, Por Por and their gang are very good to me ...  even the arab waiters ... we had a good laugh and chat while the porridge was boiling.

Last night a massive asthma attack got me at 1am. Couldn't sleep for the whole night. Used the inhaler but no use. It was really bad. I had to sit up the whole night without sleeping. By the morning I was exhausted. After breakfast I went back to sleep. In the afternoon went out for a walk and did some shopping (veggies for the canaries, an apple strudel for diabetics- the owner came out to personally show me the latest cakes he baked), then planted the rest of the geraniums in 8 other flower boxes upstairs.

After that it was the moment to truly chill out - get to watch Youtube results of last night's X Factor. I'll bet you after last night's performance, Matt Cardle will be the winner next month. His performance, his vocals were just "utterly stunning" as Simon Cowell says. Listen to him hit the high C ... faultless. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYnb8n8wxAk  Disappointed - Mary Byrne my favourite contestant - her powerful voice failed last night; it was a wrong choice of song, too low and outside the range of her vocals. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCppkc0MGVg  Disappointment - One Direction - too much hype, can't sing, can't dance, the only thing going for them is the cute factor. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nxTirfs5dM  Frankly this year the contestants aren't anything like previous years' - this year the vocals are an absolute letdown other than Matt, Mary Bryne and Rebecca Ferguson (Eartha Kitt!!! How come no one has made this connection between them yet??? Rebecca has the voice of Eartha Kitt!!! Let it be on the record that I am the first to note the resemblance) Last year we had fantastic vocals like Stacey Solomon, Danyl Johnson, Olly Murs and the fantastic winner Joe McElderry or previous winners like Leon Jackson and Leona Lewis. My bet this year is Matt. He'll win hands down.