Twilight Zone begins

Lovely greek style house
in Old Jaffa

The ceasefire in Gaza seems to be holding. Some semblance of normality is returning. In Jerusalem and the neighbouring towns, sporadic skirmishes still occur but on a smaller scale. The weather is simply too hot to carry a war. People prefer to stay indoors. You'd be surprised how much the weather can influence a war in our part of the world. For example, a suicide bomber can't work in summer because it's so hot it's not possible to wear heavy clothing to hide the explosives. If you do, you'll stick out like a sore thumb and definitely security will see you a mile away. So thanks to Mother Nature. She's a natural deterrent of violence.

The past few days have been frustrating to say the least. it's the usual workers' problems ... they promise to come one day but never show up. Tell them not to come on Friday and they all show up. I wonder if it's out of sheer malice or stupidity that they do this.

The Fountain of the Zodiac

Being so stressed out by these workers, I decided to take a day off in Jaffa (and of course the workers showed up when I wasn't at home). Finally had a chance to sleep .... like 6 or 7 hours non-stop. And the few hours that I was awake, I spent it with the other brothers who are always so kind to me. We chatted and went out to the piazza for an ice-cream. The Old City of Jaffa is amazing ... quaint ancient houses mingled with modern quirky stuff - like the Fountain of the Zodiac.

School for Israel begins tomorrow. Our students will also return and start using the libraries for research. And the nightmare of waking up at 3am begins again for me .... classes in the twilight zone. I don't think I can take another semester of this routine.