Heatwave

It's been officially declared that the past few days were a heatwave. It's 34 degrees now and still climbing. Forecast is 40 degrees.  http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/heat-wave-envelopes-israel-causing-disruptions-at-ben-gurion-airport-1.436857   It's so hot people are getting dehydrated. Staying home is not much of a solution either unless you have an aircon ... but aircons only cause more hot air.

Crowds at Piazza Roma watching a
match

But the heat has not deterred crowds from gathering at pubs and watering holes to watch big screen football matches of the EuroCup. It's THE thing every evening now in Jerusalem - both east and west - to hang out and watch a match while downing a beer and/or smoking a nargile.

Well at least the evenings are alot cooler - 26 degrees. I've got my portable aircon on in my room as it's the hottest room in the house. It's  small thing - but my room is pretty small anyway. In August, my room can hit 38-40 degrees in the night.

Anyway my asthma is not getting amy better. What a trial. I hate every evening when it attacks and I can't breathe. Must find a solution somehow. School ends this week and some will go to Turkey on summer excursion. I'll have to continue working on my paper like all other doctoral students. No holidays for us. It's same old routine.

40 degrees!

Yesterday passed pretty unnoticed. There was not much tension in the streets. Tourists are coming back - mostly asians. But it was 40 degrees at noon. Unbelievably hot. Don't know how they survived that walking around under this heat. Some places have water-sprays to mist the air while others splash water on the floor to cool off the paving stones.

Mean-looking lizard

Had to go out to buy some essentials yesterday evening when it was cooler. Went out with our museum volunteer who needed to buy veggies for dinner. As it was Friday evening, the western/jewish side of the City was closed due to the onset of the Sabbath. So we had to go to the eastern/arab side. Most shops were also closed due to the Friday muslim prayers. But we managed to find some places that were open ... those near Damascus Gate where there is a bazaar type of makeshift stalls in the streets.

At the "pet shop" - really a few planks on which are sold pet food, accessories, fish and budgies, I bought some canary food by the kilo. There was on the table what looked like a plastic/toy lizard ... yellow orange in colour. I thought it was really gross. Until it moved. It was a real thing! A pet of the owner Ali whom I know. He laughed when asked if I wanted a photo with it. So here it is.

Later this morning, Jakub will be defending his thesis. I've been helping him correct his english as he wanted to write his thesis in english. Hope he does well in front of the examining commission. Meanwhile my asthma has become extremely severe. I'm back to taking steroids to stop it ... I hate doing that as it has bad side-effects, but I can hardly breathe or sleep anymore.

Friday again

Here's a very interesting article by Rabbi Schiffman regarding the split between Judaism and Christianity 2000 years ago.  http://www.myjewishlearning.com/history/Ancient_and_Medieval_History/539_BCE-632_CE/Palestine_Under_Roman_Rule/Jewish-Christian_Schism.shtml?fb_xd_fragment  I guess it's beauty is in its objectivity, which can be pretty rare.

Baked salmon

Yesterday was called out to meet a good friend whom I've not seen for a while - an israeli. We chatted alot in 45 mins, and had a goreng pisang (bananas fried in batter) with maple syrup ... enjoyable in good company. Right now for lunch I'm having oven-baked salmon (no oil, salt; only pepper and a tartar sauce with fennel). Nice.

And talking about friends, Firas my friend in Bethlehem was terribly sick. Very high fever. Called me at 9.30pm to say a doc was in the house to give him injections etc... but I was fast asleep so I didn't see his message till midnight when I woke from the heat and asthma. Hope he gets better.

School is practically over, with the last exams scheduled for next week. Then summer holidays begin. I'll be busy with work as usual ... not much of a holiday for me.

Kohinoor

Yara Qahhaz

An urgent call for help - please be generous and let baby Yara have a normal life ... or even live at all.  http://holylandassist.blogspot.com

The Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem is now embroiled in a political tussle. The Palestinian Authorities have submitted a request to UNESCo to designate the 1,600 year old church as a world heritage site in Palestine. Israel is blocking it because it does not recognise Palestine as a state. Poor baby Jesus ... even after 2000 years, they cannot leave his poor crib alone in peace.  http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=273666

The burdens we carry .... 

I guess it's all the burden of cilvilisation ... as this wall painting in Bethlehem represents so well. Unnecessary baggage ... and the one who suffers is the camel.

A happy smile on a new deacon

Last evening I brought Ratna, my former student who was ordained last Saturday as deacon, to dinner. He was the only guy whose family could not come for the ceremony ... and I know he must have felt very sad. Ratna is from Andra Pradesh. So I promised him I'd celebrate it with him as we're family : asians. Hidri came along. We went to Kohinoor's which is the only Indian restaurant in Jerusalem. Good food ... lousy service. We had samosa and naan for starters, then briyani rice with chicken masala and ginger lampchops. It was very nice. Then Ratna treated me to an ice-cream at Nahalat Shiva. I'm glad Ratna did not feel alone ... if my presence is anything to count by. It's terrible not to be able to share such a great moment in your life - an ordination - alone with no family. The burden of civilisation may be heavy ... but friendship lightens the load.

St Anthony's Feast

Homemade goodness

Here's a pic of the mishmish jam made by Firas and his mum. 500g (contents), pure fruit with no artificial colouring or preservatives. As the mishmish is going out of season, the next batch of jams will be figs; followed by quince. Grape jam will come in autumn. Any takers?

Today is St Anthony's feastday. He's the patron saint of the Custody in the Holyland. There's a solemn Mass at St. Saviour's this morning and there'll be celebrations in all the Custody's churches. Children will wear the franciscan habit as a sign of consecration to St. Anthony and his protection. He's known as the caster of devils, so many locals are specially devoted to him. Can't imagine the number of devils in the streets of Jerusalem .... but believe, I've come across several.

I've been suffering from bad headaches these few days ... I think it's due to the heat and dehydration. Also the asthma has become very bad. The doc said I must operate on my broken septum in the nose as soon as possible as I'm only breathing 30% with that nostril. And in the night it causes my asthma. Well ...  time to invoke St. Anthony ....

Vigil of St. Anthony

Rafaele defending his thesis
in the Crusader Hall

Another defense this morning - this time it's Rafaele Petti. His research was on Jeremiah ... a pretty complicated book in itself. He did a good job, and the commission of examiners - 2 of them - praised him. Rafaele earned his SSL - which is a postgraduate degree which licenses one to teach. I know he's very happy to be able to go back to Italy now, and start his teaching career.

There'll be several more defenses for the next week. Lots of graduates this academic year ... the mill has been churning overtime. I'd hate to be part of this machinery ... but I am. Life becomes so robotic, stressed and meaningless and that's bad for my health. But the machine moves on and everyone is afraid of being left behind.

Yesterday's banquet hosted by Matthew was excellent and there was alot of food left over. I doggy-bagged rice, chicken, veggies, dessert, kubbeh and sfiha ... a whole box full. It was so heavy Daniel (a professor) and myself had to share the load halfway home, then Jacub who's a huge guy, took over for the other half. I gave some to our 3 Faustina nuns who didn't come to the dinner, and the rest I brought to Mother Teresa's sisters this morning. It's always good to share others' joy.

This evening we begin the feast of St. Anthony (of Padua if you're italian; of Lisbon if you're portuguese).  He was portuguese but died in Padua. Patron saint of lost things. Well I've got alot to ask for tonight - lost my health, lost my time, lost my memory, lost my energy .... I wonder if the miracle saint will help me find them back.

Congrats Matthew!

Matthew in a relaxed mood
chatting with a schoolmate

Today Matthew Olickal, my indian classmate, defended his thesis and earned his SSD. He was good presenting his research in front of a commission of 4 professors and an audience of friends and school mates. Mother Theresa's sisters came in quite a big force. Matthew had been celebrating Mass for them for some years now. He even had friends from Amman come over ... he goes ther once a month to celebrate Mass for the Indian community there. The SSD is a doctorate in Sacred Scripture. It was not an easy journey for him as he was ill several times and had an operation, I think.

After the defense, he hosted a banquet at the Azzahra Restaurant in East Jerusalem. It was a great meal - 44 friends, schoolmates and professors came along. The food was a nice mixture of asian, middle-eastern and western. Matthew was visibly relieved ... after 4 years of hard work. It's all over ... that's what I said to him. And he agreed. Now I guess it's my turn to finish my work .... sigh .... looks like there's no light at the end of my academic tunnel.

Banquet at Azzahra

It's been very hot again today ... 31 degrees during the day. But the evenings are fine and cool, down to 17 degrees. Matthew will have a great time celebrating with his friends this whole week ... many indian communities in the country will be feting him on his success. And the weather works fine for this. Good show, Matthew!!!