Fight

Sunset today

Another busy day with routine library work in the morning. Then in the afternoon I accompanied some friends to visit the churches in the Old City. The tourist crowds are unbelievable .... the streets are so packed it is difficult even to walk along the side of the street. After that I had to help 1st year students to find their course textbooks. Then by 6pm I was hungry. I hadn't eaten breakfast nor lunch ... so I walked down to Mian restaurant and got some eggs fried with tomatoes. Linda and Billy of the restaurant gave me rice as well. Very nice of them. Will eat them when I get home and go to sleep immediately because tomorrow early morning I must go back to the hospital to check if the bone implant has been rejected or if there is an infection. I hate to have to travel all that way to Tel Aviv and wait for a couple of hours to see the doc.

This morning there was a scuffle with police at the Holy Sepulchre entrance. Coptic monks staged a sit-in because they do not allow the Ethiopic Church to repair its ancient chapel. Workers from the Israeli Antiquities Authority had come to do the restoration work but the Copts were against it. Soon it descended into a fracas with punches and kicks. One monk was arrested.   https://www.timesofisrael.com/police-forcibly-remove-coptic-priests-blocking-workers-from-holy-sepulchre/?fbclid=IwAR2Mn7Df39GnunRwPhI6tdBGUM2gRb_xtla5TLI8jQZ75gS6sCeGiyt5V6w

Busy night market inside
Damascus Gate

Because I stopped taking painkillers that cause my stomach to be upset, I've been living with pain form the operation more in the nights than in the day. This morning I was up at midnight and have been awake till now, which is 23 hrs. When I get up in the morning, I get a headache and pain in the eye as well. It's exhausting then for the rest of the day when I need to work. Grit your teeth and get with it ... that's the spirit.

Nationwide there's been no news of major tensions so I guess today went fine. Maybe the rest of winter will be just as equally quiet.