Virus worries

Street blackout

And today my runny nose and sneezing is all over. I slept for 8 hours and took my cold medication ... drank lots of water ... and it worked. But even today while coming home from work (yes ... I work even on Sundays), 2 kids were walking past and remarked loudly "Chinese ... corona". At my age and years of living here ... I just ignore it. It's not worth the energy. There was a taiwanese student in Tel Aviv who experienced the same thing in the city and was all worked up and wrote a long post on the Tel Aviv Facebook page lamenting and winching about being a foreigner who's a victim of racism. Well ... get over it. Learn to live with it. We're guests in this land. We have no rights. If we do get anything, it's a privilege. If you value your student visa ... then just keep quiet and move on.

Armenian Catholic
Church

Yes everything is a privilege here .... even street lights. Every night I come home through the Muslim Quarter and the streets are all dark. Don't take for granted that streetlights are a right in every quarter of the City ... some have more rights than others.

I had a busy day first with Mass at the Armenian Catholic church, then a class, then a meeting and finally work in cataloguing some new books. Then a walk back home to clean my room and prepare the laundry for washing tomorrow. Monday is always laundry day for us.

Anyway the coronavirus epidemic is causing waves here ... first with a massive drop of tourists. Some source say it almost 50% cancellations. Also the industry is warning that house-building material will soon go up in prices .... and eventually all other goods. That's the result of too much dependence on Chinese cheap products.   https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Coronavirus-outbreak-threatens-Israeli-tourism-617716?fbclid=IwAR2zGyWHsk1S1JdEDn4AdX-8uCbp-WQAfE15UqWnxcaSPe2BppWLejREELE

Well the epidemic is serious enough to warrant a call from the rabbis to all jews to go to the Wailing Wall today to pray for its end.   https://israelb.org/2020/02/coronavirus-prayers-at-kotel-today/?fbclid=IwAR2JrVifQplPESnC78wZQspWu__QLAJ01kH77y1m3nRc1bRtxqi-sbPNZfY

No other headlines ... except for a simple statement in one newspaper "Winter is back". Yes the 16 degree weather has dropped back to 8 degrees. What is happening to the climate?