Big Rain

It's the 2nd day of the New Year and rain poured all morning and night. It was freezing cold. It only in the afternoon that the rains stopped, which was fine as I had to walk 1 km to Ras al Amud in the south to give a conference. The roads were wet and full of puddles in the countless potholes in this East Jerusalem neighbourhood. I got splashed twice by passing cars. And on my way home at 5.30pm which is very dark, I walked into a pothole and got wet again. Not a good start to the new year.

My AFC dinner ... yum yum

Anyway walking home from Abu Dis is a no-no. It's a very dangerous neighbourhood but at 5.30pm when the sun is down and there are no street lamps and no taxis to call, I had no choice but walk half a km to the nearest bus station. Luckily a retired archbishop who was at the conference was going home as well so we walked together and took the bus. I felt safer. Not having eaten lunch, I bought myself the smallest pack of Arab Fried Chicken on the way home for dinner. Love it. It made up for the wet clothes and bitter cold and hunger. Winter can be tough.

The rains were so heavy it flooded the southern and central plains of Israel. Cars were swept into the Dead Sea and roads blocked by torrents of stones and boulders in the desert region. And up in the north it is snowing.    https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5064719,00.html   and   http://www.jerusalemonline.com/news/in-israel/local/2018-in-israel-starts-off-with-rain-and-snow-33403

Not all is well on the New Year. The govt. owes the Municipality 50 million shekels and municipality workers not having been paid, decided to dump the city's trash at the entrance of the ministry of Finance. What a start to 2018. Trash.   https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.832303

And the struggle to pass the supermarket bill continues into the New Year. Ultra-orthodox jews are pushing a law to close all supermarkets and groceries on the Sabbath while several cities and municipalities are pre-empting this bill with various tactics. It will be a disaster for many people if this bill is passed.  https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5064692,00.html