Sandstorm over

News crew on live

 Yesterday I stayed as much as possible at home because even though the sandstorm has officially blown away, there's still lots of particles in the air. Just going out to the terrace will get your eyes scratched by the fine desert sand. Still later in the evening I had to go to my office 1km away because I forgot to bring my bible home and I had class at 4am. Luckily another priest accompanied me along. I was afraid with my breathing and walking problems, plus the sandstorm and wearing the mask, I might faint along the way.

The recent string of shootings and deaths in Palestine by Israeli police is making everyone jumpy. You can feel the tension in the air but it's being suppressed by fear. But next week is Israel's Jerusalem Day when aggressive nationalists will march through the Muslim Quarter in the thousands. It's usually met with clashes with arabs, vandalism on muslim and christian property and several hours of curfew for us who live in the Quarter. It's very troublesome at least, scary and dangerous at worst. News crew continue to station themselves at Damascus Gate waiting for any breaking news or clashes.

I must start to reduce the amount of medication I'm taking. It's making my fingers and feet swollen. And I've lost a lot of appetite though I'm bloated. But with the Delta variant still active, I mustn't let my guard down. And now we have our first case of monkey pox in the country ...