Thomas the doubter

So today we celebrated the feast of Thomas the Apostle, better known as the doubter. Actually one should be more sympathetic to him, as it surely must have been difficult under those circumstances to believe in anything.

Landmark carob tree chopped into
little pieces

And if he had to go through the pressures that I had to go through today, he'd probably throw up his hands in the air and gave up. I never had such a crazy day as I had today - workers suddenly showing up and wanting to work while everything was not yet ready. I had to round up an emergency crew to clear p as much stuff as possible so that initial minimal work can get started on the renovation. Ran out to the New City 3 times to get extra keys done. Then everything else is blanked out ... too exhausted to remember anything. Started work at 4am and only finished work at 6pm ... so that says alot. Totally stressed. Felt like the old carob tree that was felled in Independence Park - totally in pieces.

Anyway managed to relax a little when a friend called me out to chat. Change of atmosphere and mood. Had a lemonade and shared an anchovy pizza with him. He works for the UN in the Territories and has lots of interesting stories to tell.

So Thomas was totally stressed and his doubts ... but who can blame him? Welcome to the real world.

The big picture

Outspoken and unconventional rabbi Eliezar Berland calls for intervention in Syria to "save the Ishmaelites" - "even though some may grow up to be terrorists".  http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/yeshiva-head-calls-for-intervention-in-syria-to-save-ishmaelites-1.448289

Dinner: spaghetti alio/olio
what's left of it

And a disturbing video of Israeli soldier kicking a 9 yr old arab boy while another holds him.  http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=276003   Mind you, you should also remember that the soldiers are under alot of pressure in Hebron; and arabs are known to kill their daughters for going out with the wrong guy, wrong clothes, wrong attitudes. So I'm not making any judgments here. Just simply telling you to see the big picture in which the small picture takes place.

Lunch: corn on the cob
what's left of it

Yesterday's lunch was unique - a corn on the cob that I bought and boiled. Haven't eaten corn for a very long time. Actually I bought 4 to feed the canaries, but decided to eat one myself! Then I realised it was an experience of what poor people have for their meals. It did fill the stomach though. Evening I had a terrible craving for spaghetti so I went to Bolognese Restaurant for an Alio e Olio. Not the best that I've ever eaten, but I finished everything on the plate. So that's the big picture for you - lunch plate is a meal for the poor, dinner plate for those who can afford. If I had only shown you only one or the other, you'd be thinking that I'm eating poorly or extravagantly. Well the truth is always somewhere in between.

Meantime Jewish extremist elements have vandalised the famous remains of an ancient synagogue in Tiberias, causing millions of dollars of damage.   http://www.jpost.com/nationalnews/article.aspx?id=271844  Maybe rabbi Eliezar should call for help to "save archaeology" from the fanatics, those who fail to see the big picture.

New triad on the block

Yesterday saw another series of social protests throughout several cities in Israel.  http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=275826   And there was trouble at Damascus Gate late night. Police everywhere. Another gang fight involving a shop. No one is saying - but observing from this regular attacks by hoodlums from outside Jerusalem, coming in a black van, dressed in black, armed with metal bars ... the modus operandi is all too similar with other previous attacks in the last 6 months. Looks to me like an arab triad is trying to take over the shops' "protection" through coercion.

Also yesterday the former PM Isak Shamir died at a ripe old age of 96. His advice for the peace process: hold on till the opponent tires out and blinks. http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=275812  I guess the triad is not waiting for shop-keepers to blink.

Hoopoe looking
for insects

Meantime the hot dry days are still giving way to windy cool nights. What a relief! Only problem is my room is still like an oven. The stone walls absorb the heat from the morning sun till evening and in the nights, the stones release the heat. It's like an oven. My room is one of two that gets hit by the summer sun for a good 12 hours a day. Thanks to the nifty portable aircon unit, I can have some sleep ... unless I get an attack of asthma, or the arthritis worsens. And of course the insect problem is made worse as mosquitoes, flies, ticks and bugs flourish. But that's good news for the woodpeckers, swallows and hoopoe. Independence Park is suddenly full of these birds - this morning we saw 2 woodpeckers and a young hoopoe which is the national bird of Israel. I was barely 2 feet away from the hoopoe and it was not afraid at all.

I guess the canaries aren't fairing well in this heat though. They're drinking alot of water and bathing too. But they managed to bring up 9 young birds that are all flying around happily in the big cage. In the second batch of nests, only two survived and are growing up quick in their nest. All the other eggs have dried up in the sweltering heat. And the cats are voracious in this heat. Well, perhaps the canaries should pay some protection money to the hoodlums to keep the cats at bay.

Shabbat Shalom

Sunrise over the Mt. of Olives

The Sabbath is over ... the sun is setting over the Mediterranean Sea. And it's still very very hot during the day but the nights are very cool.  Another week gone. This morning's sunrise however was beautiful. It was so crisp you could see every silhouette on the Mt. of Olives. The muezzin makes the first call to prayer at 2.30am (3.30am daylight saving) and the second at about 3am (4am daylight saving). The sun is usually up by 3.45am (4.45am daylight saving) and the streets are already filled with people going to or from the mosques.

The Tel Aviv "White Night" celebrations went ahead on Thursday night to Friday morning. It's an annual event where the city stays awake the whole night with parties, cultural events and food. It's named "white" because of the white Bauhaus's built along Rothschild Boulevard where the event mainly takes place. It's usually lots of fun and there's something for everyone. But from news reports we hear that a protest "Black Night" was organised to highlight police brutality on social activists last week.  http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=275788

Lots of my friends and classmates have already returned home for the summer. Some have graduated like Matthew, while others are transferring to other houses. 2nd and 3rd year students will be doing their language courses around Europe. Sabbath is going to be alot quieter now. Shalom all the same.

Ss. Peter and Paul

Yummy homemade fig jam

Anyone for fig jam? All organic fruit, no preservatives .... fresh from the fig season. Ready for sale soon! What a nice way to start the solemnity of Ss. Peter and Paul. Both jewish guys, one a fisherman, the other a scholar. Both travelled extensively. And definitely one thing for sure ... they ate figs from the Holyland!

The weather is not letting up one bit. The summer solstice was last week and the heat is accumulating in the atmosphere. Last night was barely sleepable without a breeze. Everyone is moaning that if August is worse than this, then we'll all move out. Well it'll definitely be Ramadan so the muslims will be fasting in the heat, with longer fasting hours (daylight hours are longer). Too bad.

And tensions between Syria and Turkey are heating up, with both sides lining their military along their borders. The last thing we need is a war on our northern frontier. Don't they know it's too hot to fight in summer?  http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=275723

Friday today ... another week gone. Before you know it, even summer will be gone.

Bus ride alone

Again with the heat ... it's unbearable. And the forecast is for hotter weather this weekend. I think I'll just stay in my room and not move an inch. But easier said than done.

My first public bus ride to
Bethlehem; surrounded by
noisy german tourists.

This morning I made my first trip alone to Bethlehem by public bus!!! Horrors! After living through 2 Intifidas and watching buses being blown up - I never sat on a bus all these years. But this time I had to save money and time - so it was the public bus; an arab one of course as Israeli buses cannot enter Bethlehem. Quite an experience especially when the bus got all full with a gaggle of german women (15 - 20 of them) led by one man. And the two noisiest, loudest, incessantly talking women had to sit behind me. Can you imagine 40 minutes of shrill, guttural chatter non-stop? I nearly went crazy ... the thought of suicide bombers crossed my mind ..... hahahahahahaha

Home-cooked lunch

Arrived in Beit Jallah, the village next to Bethlehem where my friend Firas picked me up and brought me to his house. He cooked lunch and we ate it with his sister who's at home studying for the exam finals. The lunch was nice - baked chicken with veggies on saffron rice. Loved it. And of course we did up the bottles of mishmish and fig jams; packed them into 3 boxes. Very heavy. I worried about how to get it out to Jerusalem alone. And of course at the checkpoint I'd have trouble because food is forbidden to cross the borders. But everything worked out fine and I crossed the checkpoint despite the soldiers opening the boxes and knowing it's food. They let me off this time.

So it was a hot day but it was very nice when spent with friends. Somehow problems seem alot smaller when there's someone around to share it with. That goes for the weather too.

Fire

Massive fires around the outskirts of Jerusalem today. And also along Highway 1 that links Jerusalem to Tel Aviv. The weather is terribly hot and dry ... and the forest brush is perfect kindle for a forest fire.  http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=275297  Fires were sparked as far as Ein Kerem (home of John the Baptist) and Yad Vashem (Holocaust Museum).

Red hue hanging over the
skyline of Jerusalem in the evening

In the evening, the skyline of Jerusalem shone a hue typical of a heatwave and fire : glowing red. Luckily the heat died out and a very cool breeze kept blowing.

I managed to escape the fire on Highway 1 because I left very early in the morning for Tel Aviv ... 6am to be exact. Had to go to my other community to help them do a major cleanup because the nunzio (papal ambassador) will be celebrating his last Mass with the diplomatic corp before his retirement from the diplomatic service. Security will be tight but they'll only sweep the church and monastery for security purposes after we clean the place up. Hugo and Mario - 2 mexican friars - also came along and we all helped out.

And the saga continues in the world of Judaism: this time over 100 orthodox rabbis protested because the State is recognising Conservative and Reformed rabbis. The orthodox rabbis have so far held absolute power over the running of Judaism but now with this recognition, the conservative and reformed rabbis can perform matrimonies, circumcisions, bar mitzvahs which till now orthodox rabbis refuse to recognise as valid. This Judaism implodes.

And so the fire rages ...... in the land and in the minds and hearts of those who occupy the land