Feastday

Conference today

 The weather has cooled significantly. Nights go down to 18 degrees and daytime is 28. That means those horrible biting midges are back. My feet are filled with red swellings that itch terribly. No amount of ointment or insecticide seem to stop them. Their next season will be end of Spring when the weather reaches this temperature. 

Today is the feast of M. Teresa. I celebrated Mass in commemoration of her. Then in the afternoon I organised a talk on the sanctuaries of St. Joseph in the Holy Land, presented by our resident archeologist. The small group of english speaking religious from around Jerusalem came. It was a very interesting talk, with some very unknown sites presented to us. Everyone enjoyed and learned from it. Then they were treated to a free tour of our museum (which is still in construction). 

School has started so my 4am classes are back on schedule. I will definitely be tired but teaching is what I need to do to keep alive. I have 4 classes per week, plus studying for my degree, and work in 2 libraries. My body isn't what it used to be. Wrecked with pain and sickness. But I find strength when I teach. So it's full steam ahead.

Corona infections have begun to drop. The booster shots seem to be effective. However with the Jewish New Year beginning tomorrow, and mass gatherings will be rampant; followed by Yom Kippur 2 weeks later, and Sukkot a week after that. We must be cautious. Borders with Palestine will be closed during this period and I guess our movements in the Old City will be restricted with roadblocks and street closures. It's something we learn to live with.