Feast of St John

It's the 3rd day of Christmas ... feast of St. John. The weather is still very very cold but the rains have stopped. Yesterday as is traditional for the past 30 years, I read T.S. Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral. It's the marvelous play about Thomas Beckett's murder in Canterbury Cathedral and I have reread it every year on the feast of St. Stephan.

Too much food! They're definitely conspiring to fatten me. Yesterday and this morning I decided not to eat anything. It felt good. No cramps or diarrhea. But by afternoon I got hungry and had a salmon donburi with a friend at Sakura's. It was nice to feel the hot rice down the stomach. Guess what? Diarrhea in 15 mins.

Yesterday being the feast of St. Stephan, the basilica which contains his tomb held a solemn Mass with bishops all attending. Its a big deal as Stephan is the first martyr of the Church and of the Holyland. He's the symbol and example of the christians living in this land.

Lovely bronze hanukia at Mamilla Mall

Today is the last day of Hanukkah. The streets are all festive and lots of Israelis are taking the day off. The hanukiot (8 candlestand) will be lit the last time and then removed tomorrow.

Spent a lovely day with Loradana whom I've not seen for almost 20 years. She headed the language school in Rome where I studied Italian. Since then she married an Israeli Eli and has a son Emanuele who is 17 years old. She's hardly changed - still the same old self. We chatted alot about the other teachers, most of whom have now left the school to further their careers. She was back in Rome for Christmas and Ulisse, another of my teachers and very good friend, sent me a present through her. A lovely green woolen scarf ... something that I was thinking of getting last week. He reads my mind!!!

Anyway on a lighter note, here's a pic of a message stuck on Aladdin's (money-changers) shop. Enjoy! ===>