Surprise

Strong cold winds today

A great storm we had yesterday ... cold and very strong winds. The 40 degree heatwave suddenly dropped to 13 degree last night ... and it was chilly. Winter coats were out again ... even today hoodies were worn by many. No more T-shirts like last week were worn. Well it's also the 2nd day of Eid el Fitri and muslims are all out wearing their best. Except the mask which is obligatory now that the heatwave is over.

I had a lovely surprise yesterday evening when a korean friend called to say she made bipimbap for me. She's a tourist guide living in Israel and we share common friends like the korean sisters who once were my classmates. I like bibimbap which is rustic ... like I like other rustic food like thai pahd krapao. It made my dinner very enjoyable ... something different from pitta bread.

Bipimbap surprise

The opening of the Holy Sepulchre was rather a disappointment for many. Only 50 people were limited at any one moment ... and since 50 clergymen entered, all the others had to wait. Many decided to go home. It was a logistic problem ... if one left, then another would be allowed to enter. But people come in groups or families and so co-ordinating who enters and who leaves is quite complicated. Also there's no doorman to do the counting. I guess things needed to be thought out again. Back to the drawing board.

There were 2 stabbing attempts today. One near Ramallah in the West Bank and another in Jebel Mukaber which is a couple of km south of Jerusalem. Violence is turning up again in the shadow of Israel's plan to annex parts of the West Bank belonging to the palestinians. There's general anger among the arabs. Summer might be a lot hotter ... and it's not from the weather.