Of lime and calamansi

Calamansi &
limes

 The past 2 days I've been feeling weak. BP has dropped to 125, making me dizzy and legs that won't walk straight. This morning I had to rest after Mass for an hour before I could slowly walk up 1km to work. Perhaps it's because I'm not eating much ... due to the diarrhea I'm suffering. People here are laughing that there's not one illness in this world that I haven't yet have. Well despite all the pain and inconveniences, I went to Bethlehem yesterday to do some errands. Firstly I had to bring blankets to the Indian sisters who just moved into Caritas Baby Hospital. It's getting cold and they have no blankets. I also had to celebrate Mass for them as they have no priests coming to serve them on Thursdays. Then I had to rush off to M. Teresa's convent to bring winter clothes and medicine for the poor.  

Limes

There at the MC convent, Sr. Kolbe showed me at the deep corner of their garden a huge calamansi tree, hidden behind lots of lime trees. It's the elusive calamansi that I've been searching for for 20 years here. It simply does not exists and nobody eats it and it's never on sale anywhere. But the sisters have managed to plant not a shrub but a tree ... almost 1.5 meters high and full of fragrant fruit. Sr. Kolbe plucked quite a lot for me. Whenever I have problems with my diet or nausea I try to drink calamansi juice or squeeze it over my food. Those the the times when pilgrim groups would bring calamansi over for me. I've tried growing them but once it hits winter, they die. My only alternative is lime ... which is also very rare. They are on the market only 3 weeks a year. This year I've bought a kilo of it and hope it'll last me for some time. Calamansi helps raise my appetite and prevent my vomiting up food that I eat.

There's nightly clashes here at Damascus Gate, and the streets stink with skunk water. The arabs are protesting over something but I'm not sure what. Last night an arab was shot dead for hurling firebombs at Israeli soldiers. There was also a car ramming incident in the north of Jerusalem at the Qalandya checkpoint to Palestine. Violence is on the increase. It's rather scary ... winter doesn't look fun with all these.