Sahlab

The weather is cold but sunny. But it's not helping my health situation. Still with a splitting headache and ache all over the body. Found out I wasn't the only one. Those who were caught in last Friday's rain all have the same symptoms. I'm switching to another type of medicine.

Yesterday I was out teaching. Couldn't walk all the 2km uphill so I took a taxi. It was difficult teaching for 2 hours because of the headache and aches, and I couldn't stand. Legs were too weak. Then I walked home very slowly. Took me exactly 1 hr. Was exhausted and had terrible pain in the knees when I got home. Almost fainted twice too. Despite the constant calls that inevitably disturb me, I managed to grab 40 mins of sleep. It helped alot and I felt better after that.

My 1st shalab this winter

Was well enough in the evening to go out and say goodbye to an old friend who stopped by Israel for 5 days. We had shalab, a thick warm drink made from the roots of a certain orchid mixed with warm milk with rose water and crushed nuts etc... It's a typically drink drunk in winter here and other parts of the former Ottoman Empire.

Then it was back to sleep at home as this cold is really devastating. With so many others going through the same symptoms after being caught in the rain, it made me think if it were not in some way a type of acid rain that contained chemical/viral particles that lingered in the air after the bombs exploded last week during the Gaza war. If it is, I'll be one of the casualties and die a horrible toxic-induced death. But it's not going to stop my next sahlab!