Pentecost

Ambulance is stuck

Haphazard parking in
the streets

And Pentecost is today .... what a way to start the day ... yelling and shouting in front of our front gate at 4.30am after the muezzin called muslims to prayer. Went out to see what was happening. An ambulance got stuck right in front of our gate because the muslims parked their cars everywhere along the narrow street, blocking the ambulance from going out. Soldiers and police were blaring out from their PA system for owners to remove their cars but of course no one came. They were all in the mosque. Some soldiers moved the first car out of the way with their bare hands. Only half an hour later did the owners came out - after prayers - and emptied the streets of their cars. Whoever was in the ambulance ... I hope he didn't die.

King George Street is empty

Today at 4pm there'll be solemn vespers in the Last Supper Room. It'll be pretty crowded. Lots of pilgrims are crowding the streets of the Old City, singing and dancing. This is a total contrast with the rest of the country: it being the Jewish Pentecost (Shavuot) today, so the New City is dead. No work is allowed today. The streets are empty. Shops are all closed. Two different ways of celebrating the same feast; two different mentalities, theologies, traditions.

Let's see how the day ends .....