Winter Solstice Festival

Wrapping the dumplings

Yesterday's storm has blown away but the cold is still lingering. The Israeli weather dept. says it's a once-in-a-decade storm. The Sea of Galilee rose by 6cm. It was a welcome rain - the air is clean again, the streets are clean again. And everyone is home keeping warm. No trouble in the streets. All is calm ... a fitting prelude to Christmas.

So yesterday was the Winter Solstice festival. A group of northern chinese tourists came to Mandarin Restaurant and started wrapping and cooking dumplings. That was a real feast! Ah Ling the owner called me over for the feast and the group was very kind. They shared their dumplings with me and we chatted and laughed like old friends. The dumplings tasted very good ... both the beef and the pork versions. A little vinegar and soya sauce with chilli and it's like being home again.

Yummy dumplings

The Christmas holidays begin today so school is a lot quieter. Most have already returned home to their own countries. The rest of us will probably spend Christmas in Bethlehem. I'm cleaning up my room for Christmas. It's incredible how much dust collects in a week ... but that's the phenomenon we encounter here in the cities around the desert. Then of course it's studies and studies again.

The H1N1 virus (Swine Flu) is spreading quickly in Palestine ... already 3 arabs have died this week and lots of cases are popping up in the Territories. Israel has issued an alert saying the virus was brought by arab pilgrims to Mecca. So I'm staying away from crowds ... including Bethlehem. Might just spend Christmas in a quiet place away from people. Could be fun.