Talent

Balu's art expo

 I'm still feeling quite unwell. The fever has not subsided, and though I haven't vomited I still feel nausea. And the diarrhea hasn't stopped either. Dr. John came by and checked me up. He said my cough and sore throat is the result of something else and the stomach problem is gastroenteritis. He gave me medicines as well. I sure hope I'll get better as this Saturday I must go to Tel Aviv to celebrate Mass for the Ethiopic community. 

Yesterday there was a terrible attack at the Tomb of Joseph - the one who was sold into Egypt and became the number two man. A large group of jews went to the tomb accompanied by police but a local arab shot through the crowd, injuring 3 people. What a terrible way to start the summer.

There was also an earthquake last night. I think it was 3.6 on the Richter scale ... and as the newspapers report, it's one in a series so far. Well that works well with all the violence happening. What luck.

Art exhibition

On a happy note, our indian seminarian Balu held his first exhibition of his artistic skills ... painter, sculptor and calligrapher. He's done some very good pieces of oil on canvas, and lots of soap sculptures. It's so refreshing to have aspects of modernity and classic mixed in one. He is talented!

Sick

At my doctor's clinic

 I thought my gastroenteritis was over but this morning I felt really sick. My throat was very sore and I lost my voice. I still have a slight fever and I lost my appetite. I still went to the Ivrea convent this morning for Mass which is 1km away in a nearby village. 

But back home I stayed in bed as I really felt unwell. The whole day. I did go the the doctor. He's an old man and the neighbourhood poor go to him. I don't want to go to high class doctors with special treatment like all the rest of the guys in my community do. I came here to be with the poor, the neighbours living around our house. If they go to a poor clinic, then so do I. The old doctor has Parkinsons ... so when he gives me an injection, it hurts. Still that's what poor people have to go through. They don't have a choice. And I choose to share their experience.

Fever, nausea, runny nose, sore throat, lost of appetite ... it's not good. I hope it'll pass tomorrow. I have a lot of work to finish. The last thing I need is to back log work during the holidays.

Summer camp

Sr, Noel & the kids

 Thanks to your generosity, the Sisters of Charity (St. Vincent de Paul) in Bethany were able to organise a summer camp for underprivileged kids in and around the village. Summer camps are popular but it's beyond the financial means of poorer families. A sponsored camp such as this one is very much in demand but it needs your generosity. 

The parents of these children are at work and cannot care for them at home during the summer holidays. These children will learn from bad influences from the poor and dangerous environment they live in. By putting them in summer camps, we are sure they learn good Christian values and proper social responsibilities, have proper meals and healthy exercise.

Let's hope it won't be the last event for the poor children!

To those who donated to this ... thanks very much! God will bless you for caring for his children! And you can still donate to this cause!

Fun in the sun

Come!

 The Custos of the Holy Land welcomes you

Tourists

 As the weather stabilizes into summer mode, people are also getting used to the heat. Violent incidents are significantly less and let's hope it stays that way. Tourist groups are coming by the thousands now. Our streets are full of foreigners. And they bring illnesses. The spike in Covid and gastric influenza has reached a daily rate of over 10,000. The Health Ministry is telling people to wear masks when indoors but nobody is bothering. Well, it may be a case of too little, too late. Regrets will be useless. In fact the Ministry has already said that this is the 6th wave of Covid.

At Cana chapel

Among the thousands of daily tourists is a filipino family who came to visit. Parents with 4 kids. I brought them around the Old City on the 1st day, but my health isn't up to it so for the rest of the week I got other filipino friars to help out. They went to Cana and renewed the marriage vows during Mass there. Fr Carlos from Tel Aviv presided the Mass. There were many fun things to do with the kids as they learned more about their faith. And they drew and coloured books on Bible stories. The Ministry of Tourism is aiming for 4 million tourists by August. Thats mainly to boost the economic.

I'm still recovering from gastric flu. I thought I was getting better yesterday and then I vomited last night. I think it's not quite over yet. Still I have classes to teach and lots of paper work to follow up. Hope by tomorrow all will be dealt with so I can sleep on Sunday ... or see the doctor.

Kids have fun

Kids in the public fountain

 Gastric flu is everywhere. Over a dozen in the monastery where I work. I was down with it myself. 3 days of fever and vomiting and diarrhea. I was very weak but not as bad as some who had to be hooked up to a drip. Still it made me very ill and I could hardly sleep or walk about. I was just at the pharmacy to buy medicines for the MC sisters in Bethlehem when the pharmacist told me to take probiotics. I bought a bottle and took one pill already. Then I was told to bring lots of water.

Meantime daily Covid infections have gone up to over 10,000. Serious cases requiring hospitalization have also risen sharply. I'm wearing my mask all the time, and people make nasty remarks, even among priests who caught Covid and spread it to others. Abominable.

The weather is at a stable 30 degrees during the day and a cool 22 degrees at night with a lovely breeze. I had to work very hard yesterday and today despite my gastric flu, running around different places in the City to get visas done for sisters who are coming to work here. They're from France and India so they need to be done in different offices. I can only walk slowly as my legs and hips are giving me trouble. But I do my job ... though it's not my responsibility. The relevant superiors are too lazy and indifferent to do it. I'm really doing a favour. 

Well it's so hot during the day, kids from the neighbourhood are playing in the public fountains. Adults look enviously as they too would like to join in. Though it's illegal to play in the fountains and the police statio n is literally 2 metres away from it, the police close an eye and let the poor children play. They can't afford to go to summer camps with swimming pools, and unable to travel to Tel Aviv to enjoy the beach; so this is their only way to play in a body of water. I hope they'll continue to enjoy throughout this summer ... with no more violence in the streets.

SIck

Syro-Malabar procession

 Again several days have gone since I updated my blog. I've been a little sick the past days ... with a fever and nausea and vomiting. Tested myself 3 times for Covid and am negative. Still I'll continue testing because Covid is spreading rapidly here. Yesterday there were over 10,000 infections with a rising number of serious cases that need hospitalization. The Health Ministry is telling people to wear the mask again, though it's not yet a law. 

The fever and nausea have been keeping me awake. Not that there's many hours of sleep. It's summer and the sun rises very early. And the muezzin starts singing even earlier at 2.30am (3.30am solar time). People are telling me it's probably a bug that I caught. Maybe I should go to the doctor's. Mind you, my breathing is a lot better with not sign of asthma like before. So it doesn't sound like Covid.

Sunrise 4.30am

Last Friday and Saturday I was busy with Mass celebrations and processions in Tel Aviv with the Indian communities for the feasts of St. Anthony and Corpus Christi. The Syro-Malabar rite indians celebrated St. Anthony's feast and I was asked to carry the statue in procession, dressed in the Syro-Malabar rite vestments. The crowd was huge and there were no windows in the hall, so I was afraid I caught Covid there. The next day, Saturday, I had Mass with the Konkani community which was also very crowded. Chances of my catching the virus was great. Hence my fear when I developed a fever when I came home.

The amount of medicines I'm taking is making my hands and feet swollen. Walking is even more difficult now. But if I don't walk, the water retention would only get worse. So I try my best to walk at least 2 kms a day ... to and from work. Just hope I don't vomit along the way.

Too much

Full moon

 It's been 31 degrees and above the past few days. The sun is scorching. But the nights are very cool and breezy. The muezzin starts singing the call to prayer at 3.30am (2.30am legal time) and it was noticeably louder these past nights ... perhaps because of the tensions around the City. A lot more arabs from around the country are flocking into the Old City for weekend prayers these weeks ... a reaction to the Jews entering the Al Aqsa mosque compound. By 4am the compound is full of young and old praying.

This morning was a mad house. I had so many things going on at the same time, it was out of control. 2 phone calls at the same time, a team of conservators and restorers to study the state of some of our antique books and a visiting professor from the University who wanted to see our books. Then another call to help a seminarian change money, another message to say someone is leaving old clothes with me for the poor, another series of messages asking if I have a place in the car to bring them to Tel Aviv tonight for the solemn Mass at 8pm, then the chinese sisters calling to ask if I can find rooms for them in Tel Aviv tonight because they want to join in the Mass there too, two workers came to ask me to bring them to a convent where they must do repairs, booking the car to bring us to Tel Aviv for the Mass, looking for another car for tomorrow to bring us back ...... it's one of those days where things are totally out of control.  I'm too old to handle this stress.

Cherries

Anyway it's preparation time for Mass in Tel Aviv. I'm exhausted so I need to rest a little before the solemn Mass there.

One consolation after all this stress ... I got lots of fruit to eat! Mini-apricots and cherries! Grapes also! And vanilla ice cream! Weekend will be great with these summer fruit!

Feast

Full red moon on the right

 Today my worker is in hospital so I have to stay in the office the whole of the opening hours, opening and closing the library because it's still exam time and students need to use the library. 

Last night the full moon was out ... so very large and red. It shone through my window and kept the room alight. It was very nice but I don't have a good camera so the photos are blurry. The moon is enormous and red. Amazing. I thought the blood moon phenomenon was over, but it isn't.

Great home food

Last night the chinese sisters cooked up a great dinner and invited our Custos, the vicar and the economo over. Their term of office is almost over and we wanted to thank them for their help all these years. The food was really professionally done ... restaurant level. There was my favourite cold noodles, fried beansprouts, dumplings and lots of other stuff. We ate alot.

It's Corpus Christi today. There was a solemn Mass at the Holy Sepulchre and every other church is holding its own celebrations. It's the last feast before the Transfiguration in August. But by then most of our guys will be away for their home leave so the feast is much less crowded than it should be.

Processions

Procession of St. Anthony

 I must be tired. I can't remember words or things for the past day. For the past 3 nights I've slept only 3 hours each because I've had too much to do. The old brains are giving up. 

Monday evening I had gone to Tel Aviv to the migrant chapel to concelebrate the feast of St. Anthony for the Konkani community. There wee many worshippers, and the little children wore Franciscan habits as a sign of consecration to St. Anthony. There was a public procession around the block with police escort, followed by Mass in English and Konkani. There were 4 deacons and 8 priests and the sanctuary was small and the chapel had no windows so it was very hot and stifling. The Mass ended at 10pm and when I reached the bus station, there was no one and no bus. It was scary. The station is famous for drug addicts, thieves and lots of violence. I called the deacons for help and they can to accompany me back to Jerusalem by train. It was my first time and I didn't know where the station was. Neither did they. We needed a Filipina parishioner to bring us there.

Little Anthonies

When I reached home, having to take the tram as well, it was already midnight. And I hadn't eaten anything all day. It was past 1.30am when I actually to sleep but by 4am I had to be up for work and meetings. I was feeling very light-headed and nauseous all morning. So at 3pm I decided to go home to rest. Simply too much activities. I'll have to recoup my energy because this Friday there'll be another procession and Mass for the Malayam community in the night and Saturday morning I have Mass for the Konkanis. All in Tel Aviv far away.

There was no drizzle as predicted. instead the heat has come back ... over 28 degrees. I must remember to drink lots of water to stay hydrated otherwise I'll be fainting.

St. Anthony

St. Anthony & relic in
our main church

It's been 4 days since I updated my blog! I'm ok ... just very tired easily, swollen feet and sleepless nights due to phlegm accumulation in the windpipe. I've barely slept 3 hours a night now. And we hit a new high of the heatwave. Last Saturday recorded 40 degrees. It was stifling hot. You could feel the ground burning through the soles of your shoes. The today it's all cloudy and cold ... and drizzling! Drizzling in summer? This is so weird. Everyone is just talking about the rain. It's definitely a good respite from the heat but it's totally out of character for summer to rain! Now the rains have stopped and the heat is back. Forecast for another day of 40 degrees.

On Saturday night, when it was 40 degrees, it was too hot to sleep so I went out to the terrace where a cool breeze was blowing. Then I witnessed an altercation below my house. 4 jewish youths attacking an arab youth. They sprayed pepper spray at him and he managed to run off to his home. Police then came ... to defend the attackers and tried to enter the arab's house ... not sure to interrogate him or arrest him. All I know is that the injustice here is unimaginable in any other country.

Violence continues sporadically throughout the country. We're not sure if it'll get worse. We certainly don't want our first corona-free summer to be spoilt. And newspaper reports are saying ... we're not free from corona yet. There's a 30% rise of infected cases, with many more unreported. I'm still keeping my mask.

Today is the feast of St. Anthony. It's a solemnity here in the Holy Land because St. Anthony is the patron saint. He had wanted to come as a missionary and die here but was not allowed. Anyway he got to the the patron saint so that's good. The Indian communities here have a great devotion to him and they all had novenas prior to the solemnity. Let's pray that St. Anthony will protect the Christians here from persecution and keep us safe.

Smart cat

Patient cat at Broaster's

 I felt sick at 11.30pm last night. Was coughing and feeling unwell so I couldn't sleep till now which is 17 hours later. I vomited twice at 6am. Now I'm very exhausted and my eyes are burning. But I have no appetite. It's a horrible feeling. I'm hoping to be able to sleep tonight. The weekend will be hectic as I've to help several indian communities for masses ... both konkani and malayalam. I hope to recover by tomorrow. I need to travel to another city 65km away for these masses.

Last week as I was walking down Salahhadin street - which is the main artery for East Jerusalem - I saw a very hopeful cat sitting at the door of Broaster's Fried Chicken ... waiting for a free meal. It was very hot and the cat was cooled by the aircon there at the entrance. Smart. I guess many people will also wish to be like him in this weather and financial crisis.

Met an old friend and friar who's been working in Greece (or America?) for over a decade since I last saw him. He said I looked exhausted and I should take a rest and leave all the work behind. It's good advice ... and I will ... this summer I hope. There's so much going on it'll need some planning. 

Wednesday

The long road to Tel Aviv

 Another hot day, another busy day. Tensions continue to be high around the country as incidents happen here and there. Yesterday I saw a small boy of 7 or 8 having to open up a huge luggage he was carrying and taking everything out ... by the side of the main street, because police wanted to see what he was carrying. Poor boy. No one dared to intervene.

In this heat, and with schools closing soon, we'll see lots of arab kids working to help the family finances. Many times I feel sad ... seeing small kids selling things in the streets, working in restaurants and shops in cleaning or carrying stuff around. They don't have the luxury of holidays. I remember several years back when a small boy maybe about 8 yrs old going to the Fried Chicken shop asking for food. It's a very sad fact. People are that poor. Children go hungry. And just now there's the news that Jerusalem is the 15th most expensive city in the world. I'm trying to figure out with our Aid Office and the sisters how we can help this summer the poor families. It'll be a busy summer.

Hectic day

Singapore consulate

 Yesterday was a tiring day as all Mondays are ... class starting at 4am (5am daylight saving) and then work all day through. This morning I had to leave for Tel aviv at 5.30am because after waiting one month for my new passport to arrive .... and it apparently went missing for a month ... the honorary consul told me after my daily calls that there is a passport with a chinese name but not my english name. That was me ... only I never use my chinese name here since nobody can pronounce it anyway. So I had to rush and get it. It's far away and the traffic jam was horrific in the morning. It took me well over one and a half hours to get there ... and then waited for an hour for the consulate to open. Then it was another long traffic jam back home.

Impromptu exhibit

The consulate shares office space with 2 Guangzhou companies or trade-missions. The chinese flag flies big everywhere ... but not a single Singapore flag. Only the crest was at the door. I was rather disappointed. It's about time Singapore opens an embassy here and get it's own official place.

After returning home, which was already 12pm, I had to rush and organise a make-shift exhibition for the francophone commissariats of the Holy Land. They're here for a renewal course and I brought out four 16th century books on french travellers to the Holy Land. They found it interesting.

After that there was alot of financial arrangements the Economato wanted to close because it's the end of a 6 year mandate. We had to tally everything and it was all good. But I'm mentally exhausted since this morning. No rest. No lunch. Only one 5 minute toilet break in 12 hours. I really need to rest early tonight. I feel sick and nauseous.

Another day

Summer flowers

 The City especially in our Quarter is still very tense as groups of aggressive Jews continue to march down our streets, spitting at us, shouting and jeering and provoking local residents. There's not a single police around to protect us. It's getting frightening going out alone nowadays. You're never sure if you'll get attacked for being a Christian. 

The hot weather continues to beat down on us. However the flowers are enjoying the heat and are blooming profusely especially the geraniums. I have to water them every morning so they don't dry out and die at midday. 

St. Anthony's feast will soon be round the corner. For the Indian community it's a very big feast day. They're holding a novena right now for the feast. St. Anthony is also the patron of the Holy Land so it'll also be a very grand feast day for us. After this feastday, it's officially the summer holidays for us. For me, it'll just be another July and August.

Pentecost

At the Last Supper Room

 It's Pentecost today .... both the Jewish and Christian Pentecosts. The Jews celebrate the wheat harvest and the giving of the Torah on Mt. Sinai. Christians celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the Church. Jews celebrate by eating cheesecake ... and we're not sure why but we all love it! However all shops are closed so I couldn't buy any cheesecake. However at the Last Supper Room, Catholics gathered in huge crowds for Vespers yesterday night and Mass this morning. And with that, Easter season is over.

School is over as well. It's exams now and in a week it'll all be over and everyone will be off for their holidays ... except me. I'll organise several books that I really want to read, and some things I want to learn. That'll be something to look forward to.

Pentecost vespers at the Last
Supper Room

This morning during Mass, a group of zionist Jews tried to break into our church and vandalise it with spray paint. Our doorman and his 2 sons fought them off. There was a dreadful commotion but those anti-christians were driven off. We don't get protection from the police. Yes the violence is not over. And we're the victims this time. Something must change. May the Holy Spirit protect us!

End of May

 More and more videos of the injustice and blatant prejudice against paelstines have surfaced and put on social media. I am sicken by it all. I can't bare looking at them anymore. I just mentally switch off. Nothing will change. The West will tacitly allow this unjust discriminaiton to continue so long as it receives the jewish diaspora votes.

Lilies in bloom

The weather is hot this week as predicted. 35 degrees. And nights are above 20 degrees. I was quite sick yesterday with runny nose, sneezes and watery eyes. Wasn't sure if it was a cold or an allergy. Today I'm much better from the runny nose but the awful headache is still here ... and nausea. Perhaps I should go see the doctor. I self-tested and am Covid negative though.

It's almost the feast of St. Anthony of Padua ... so the lilies are in bloom. I have several cream lilies and they are blossoming well well despite the heat. They need a daily watering though. Geraniums love this heat and are also blossoming furiously. Daisies and nasturtiums also. At least I've got those in my terrace. They'll do well with daily watering before the sun rises.

Marian dais

May ended as usual with the annual procession around the Christian Quarter of the statue of Mary. It's then placed on a dais in our courtyard and hymns are sung before the statue is kept away till next May. I didn't join in as the crowds could be carrying Covid. I avoid crowds at all costs.