1st Sunday of Advent

My Christmas wreath

Good news : the fires in the north especially Haifa region are extinguished. People are allowed to return home but almost 600 families have lost everything as their property have been totally gutted. There are other fires still burning around the cities north of Jerusalem such as Modiin and Maale Adumim. The Palestinian firefighters have returned to Palestine and the Israeli PM rang to thank the Palestinian president for his help. America's water-bomber ... the largest in the world ... was plying along Highway 1 extinguishing the fires on this artery that links Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. News is coming out that some of the arab suspected arsonists were actually torching their own arab towns and villages.  No one knows why ... yet. Police are investigating and are keeping silent regarding everything. We know at least that there is one arab in Nazareth who tried to set his own city on fire. Other newspapers are now saying that the "Fire Intifada" is just a ploy to divert attention from the govt.'s mistake in slow reaction to stopping the fire.

For the 1st time, ISIS in Syria shot into Israel and a battle broke out. Several ISIS soldiers were killed while Israel suffered no lost. This is the first sign that an open war might just be beginning on our northern frontier with ISIS trying to attack Israel. All I can say is, ISIS doesn't stand a chance. http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.755499

I recovered from last night's illness. Still don't know what it was due to. I'm still a little dizzy but I have done some work already this morning. For starters I walked 2 km to the head office bank to deposit money. When it was done I asked if they could give me a statement for the past 6 months. They said no ... I must go back to the branch office for that!!! The same branch office which won't serve me because I'm a foreigner. All I can say is ... the banking system here is a mystery ... which is a euphemism. Well I didn't go there because it was another 1km and my hamstring/sciatica injury was too much to bear. Went home instead.

Yesterday afternoon I went to a nearby Christian shop to buy some Christmas decorations. I got myself a very small wreath with a glass vase for a candle. Actually I was there to buy stuff for the chinese sisters. It's their first Christmas outside China. I couldn't afford much so I got them a larger wreath with glass and candle ... and a poinsettia plant. Hope they like it.