A handful of French

The weather has been getting cooler by the day. Last night it dropped to 16 degrees. Had to put on winter stuff to keep warm.

Yesterday spent a bit of the afternoon at my friend Souhaib's phone shop. He always makes me sit in his shop for a drink while he busily serves hundreds of clients. Souhaib lost 13 kg in 1 month ... same symptoms like me: nausea, vomitting and diarrhea. His diagnosis at Hadassa Hospital is "viral infection". Also went to the tailors to repair some shirts after that.

Tourists come back to Israel, but you can see the effects of the economic crisis in Europe. Other than the handful of French, all other groups are asian - Indians, Indonesians, Japanese, Koreans, Chinese, Singaporeans. Asia still has the money.

Just back from a private birthday party - Khalil our cook is 40 today. It was a family affair and I was the only non-family member to be invited. Since Khalil and his wife are chefs, you can imagine the fine food we had. The entrecote was superb. And his wife made the best tiramisu I ever tasted .. honestly!

Last night the former Custos Fr G. Battistelli died. R.I.P.

A note in inform all you good people that this academic year (2011-2012), your donations for sponsorship of priests/religious/laity go the 3 students studying for the MA in Biblical Studies here in Jerusalem: 1 from Mainland China, 1 from Mexico and 1 from Italy. Through your goodness they will be able to study another year and when they earn their MAs, they will be an asset to Bible teaching in their own countries. Through your donations, you have become part of spreading God's Word to the world. Donations meant for other sponsorships of local students will soon be posted in http://holylandassist.blogspot.com