Another week

Burst water pipe 

What a busy Sunday yesterday ... I had the 6am Mass on Mt. Calvary then the rest of the day was spent translating a speech. It was rather philosophical so it was quite difficult and took me a good part of the day to complete. The 5.30am walk to the Holy Sepulchre for Mass was quite an adventure though ... we had a major water pipe burst in front of Ecce Homo convent ... 10 meters from our door. Workmen were shouting almost all night and nothing was done. Water was gushing out of a manhole and the entire Via Dolorosa was inundated with a river flowing down all the way to the 5th Station. I wasn't prepared for that so my shoes were all wet when I got to Calvary. The walk back home was equally wet.

Chapel of the Prison
of Christ 

One thing though, when I was in the Holy Sepulchre (Calvary is situated inside it) I noted that the decade long renovations at the Greek Orthodox chapel of the "Prison of Christ" was quite finished. A chancel was added and an altar was created on the right of the chapel. I wonder when they will actually complete the renovation and reopen the chapel. Probably another decade if we're lucky.

Anyway I managed to complete the translation late in the afternoon and was mentally exhausted. I took a walk in the cool evening to clear my head ... of course realising that I did not do my Sunday shopping or laundry or room-cleaning yet. My diabetes must be quite bad because for the 2nd day now I am very thrifty and dry in the mouth ... and some other symptoms. I had missed daily my 4km for 3 days now due to work so my sugar level must have risen. Sr. Amrutha form our a kitchen, a former nurse in Cairo, told me it probably is diabetes and urged m to go to hospital for a checkup. Well ... when I have the time. Today the symptoms continued but I was filled with appointments ranging from visa of the sisters, to Post Offices taxes, to meeting with the banks to close one account and open another for the libraries .... and they're all some 4 kms apart uphill and downhill. Needless to say I did;t have time to see the doctor. Let's see what tomorrow brings.

All's not well today on a national level. A terrorist stabber was shot dead near Hebron. There were riots in an arab village near Bethlehem slated for demolition. Foreign Ministry employees protest salary conditions (they went on strike a couple of years ago ... embassy services around the world were affected), and the Filipino president has come for a 3 day visit. That means more road closures and inconveniences for us. He's not a religious man so he'll never go to the Holy Sepulchre. At least that street won't be blocked. The Chief Rabbi has waded into the Nation-State Law debate, supporting an amendment which will include the Druze (not the other minorities) because they had been loyal defenders of Israel.