After the storm

Tel Aviv lightening (photo by N.B.
from Facebook

The medicine came with a bang ... but on in Jerusalem. Gaza was struck early and remains in a state of emergency. A couple of hours later Tel Aviv was hit. Lots of spectacular thunder and lightning over the city and heavy rain. There's a lot of photos of the electric storm on social media and I've included one photo downloaded from FB.

Our guys in Jaffa sent messages to say the storm was tremendous.  But like I predicted, the medicine travels only on flatland. It could not climb the western mountains where Jerusalem is situated ... so we had only very dark skies and drizzle. Still it was good that some water was falling because it cleaned the skies and the thirsty ground soaked every drop after 8 months of hot dry weather.

My ankle is hurting so much I'm limping today. My cough is still around but not as bad as last week. I'm off the antibiotics so that's good. People have been saying that I was very bloated and swollen in the face and hands when I took the antibiotics.

News is flashing that ISIS leader in Syria was killed. I don't know what consequences that would entail ... so let's hope it will not be negative for the surrounding region, such as revenge attacks on christians and other minorities.

Safra Square today

One positive thing yesterday was a phone call from my former student now in India. He was recounting his work and I was very proud of him. Later in the night another student in Puerto Rico messaged me as well. It was good to chat with him too. It seemed only a short time ago when they were my students studying my courses and writing their theses ... now they're ordained and leaders in their own institutions.  

This morning I decided to take a long walk around the New City with our filipino and armenian students. It was a good break from all the work and preparation for exams. The weather was cool and there were lots of people in streets. The after-storm effect was great for Jerusalem though I imagine in Gaza and other coastal cities, it's a day cleaning up the debris that the storm had wrecked.