Bronchitis

The central piece in our refectory

Since yesterday evening I've been coughing viciously and having great difficulty in breathing. There's also a fever. Feeling really sick. It must have been the 3am berry-picking that made me sick. It was very cold and I was very tired. Now I don't think I'll be able to celebrate Christmas in Bethlehem. I'm not even going out of my room today. It's really that bad. I'm constantly gasping for air and each cough brings a lot of pain from my neck and the crushed nerve. I get blackouts as a result.

Our almost
minimalist crib

This afternoon I realised the superior did not organise the students to prepare the decorations in our refectory. What a dreadful pity. I did up the floral pieces which consisted of the pine branches from the Salesian Monastery, the berries and pine cones picked from the park/cemetery that caused my bronchitis ... and a candle which is it everyday in Christmastide till Epiphany. That was pretty quick. But preparing the crib and other decorations were very difficult for me as I needed that tall ladder to reach the chandeliers. Fortunately I found Karol our slovak student who is almost 6 feet tall. He helped trail the streamers and hang the baubles.  And the crib was minimalist ... with pine cone and branches as background and the Holy Family in the centre. But our indian sisters insisted there must be angels and shepherds and sheep ..... and lots of flickering lights.

Another series of hate-crimes against arabs by jews .... 27 cars slashed, graffiti and vandalism on private property ... but will justice be done?   https://www.timesofisrael.com/tires-slashed-walls-graffitied-in-east-jerusalem-apparent-hate-crime/?fbclid=IwAR2sA7AkHnZFa44_b4_sGcQouP0NJvJYgS8KPxKzDXQ5-9Hrls3N-0IGrq8

Well tomorrow night many people will go to Bethlehem for Midnight Mass ... or Shepherds' Field to celebrate Mass. I'll stay at home ... am too sick to go even to our door. How uneventful.