Drizzle

Food!!!!

Drizzle has been on and off since Sunday  .... not like it's a big deal; only a couple of drops and then the sun comes back.  It should have been alot heavier but all our hopes for a rainy winter blew off with the wind. Luckily this meant that our library staff barbeque went ahead without hitches. It was fun. Sr Maria invited us to her garden where Ronza and her family got the barbeque going. The rest of us helped by eating the food. It was a good and relaxing afternoon out of the office.

In the meantime the country was set for 2 Earthquake drills. One was at 11am and the second at 7pm. It's the first emergency drill held on a national level. The govt. is expecting a real big one with 7,000 dead and 17000 injured. There's no hope for those in the Old City because the houses are too many and the streets too narrow. But I still got my earthquake emergency backpack ready: torch, medicine, documents, water, a whistle. I've got only 20 seconds to run for shelter.

Haven't managed to get an appointment with my dentist yet. Must get the implant fixed before the gums close up. You cannot imagine how difficult it is to get simple things done over here.

New Saints today

The ancient olive trees
of Gethsemani

So after a year of research and tests, it's proven that the olive trees in our Garden of Gethsemane are indeed ancient, at least 1000 years old and all coming from the same parent plant.  http://www.jpost.com/Features/MagazineFeatures/Article.aspx?id=288565

This morning at 11am the whole country (Israel, not Palestine) underwent an Earthquake Drill. Later at 7pm in the evening there'll be a second drill. It's to prepare the people for the coming monster mother-of-all earthquakes that Israel has been expecting for the past 2 years. And it's going to come! Israel is expecting 7,000 dead; 70,000 injured and 170,000 homeless. Well I've got my earthquake survival pack ready. Just need to stock up on my medicines now. With the first tremor I've got only 20 seconds to grab and run.

Also this morning we have new saints. One of them is Franciscan sister Marianne, the pioneer nurse in modern medicine in the USA and collaborator of St Peter of Molokai with the lepers in Hawaii.  http://edition.cnn.com/2012/10/20/health/saint-marianne-cope/index.html?hpt=hp_c3  The other is Tekakwitha the Mohican girl. Pray for us St Marianne and St Tekakwitha. We need it.

Bad weekend ahead

Before - the Tomb of Rachel among
olive groves

Big trouble ahead next weekend. Over 100,000 jewish worshippers are going to the Tomb of Rachel to mark the anniversary of her death ; Rachel being the wife of Jacob and mother of Joseph (of the technicolour dreamcoat) and Benjamin. It's in an occupied piece of land in Bethlehem which Israel has surrounded with a huge wall almost like a fortress. The land has been annexed and Palestinians cannot pass by there. Remember even muslims hold Rachel as one of their revered ancestors.   http://www.jpost.com/JewishWorld/JewishNews/Article.aspx?id=288296

Now - massive walls and guard
tower surrounds the tomb

But on the same day, the muslims are celebrating Eid al Adha - the feast of Abraham's sacrifice of Ishmael (Isaac according to Judaism and Christianity). There's going to be clashes and riots as Israeli military will probably close Bethlehem and the southern Territories to muslims coming to Jerusalem for the feast. Not going to be nice.

Healthwise there's alot less pain now that the tapes are holding the muscles together. But it doesn't prevent the vertebrae from squishing the nerve and so there's still a nagging pain that becomes quite sharp when I turn my head. Also my knee still hurts ... and I can't find my dentist who should replace my implant when it got knocked out when I fainted. Lousy start to the week.

Persimmons and pears

Didn't know what those kinesiology tapes can do when the doc taped me together yesterday ... but it sure relaxed the muscles ... so much that for once I fell into a very very profound sleep yesterday afternoon when I got home. So profound that when Khalil our cook called to see if I was ok, I hadn't the slightest idea where I was or what time or day it was. I answered the phone, but the muezzin was singing and the clock said 6.30 but I wasn't sure if it was morning or evening. Was totally confused for several minutes until I got oriented and found out it was still Thursday and it was evening and I slept through the afternoon. Actually I slept right through the night too ... with minimal pain.

A plate of colours

Yesterday afternoon reaching Tel Aviv by bus, I had to switch to a taxi to get to the doc's. Went up to the first taxi in line and there was a huge old man behind the wheels. He asked for 60 shekels which I said was too expensive. It should only cost between 35-45 shekels. Then the huge driver said in arabic "I know you. You speak arabic. I brought you to hospital last year, remember?" Well I didn't. But he couldn't be wrong ... as no one would have known that I speak arabic, least of all a taxi-driver. Am loosing my memory I realised. So he drove me to my doc's yesterday ... chatting up on everything. Ended up I still had to pay 60 shekels for the trip.

Had pears and persimmons last evening for dinner - for the half hour that I was awake. It's the season for these fruit. Very sweet and juicy. And colourful too. A little comfort food for the weeks of pain I've being going through. Now the guys in the house and school are watching out for me if I'll black out again. Like it's been 2 times now - once in the kitchen and the other day in my room. It's nice to know there're people watching out ... so I won't fall and smash my head or something. Right now the knees still hurt like crazy.

Appointment with doc

So the pain in the neck and shoulders had become so bad I had no choice but call my doc last night. He told me to come over first thing in the morning ... ie 7am. Well ... that's 60 km away plus I have to walk 1.5 km to the bus stop. So woke up at 3am and prepared to make the long trip. On the way, my implant fell out. So now I have to make an appointment with my dental surgeon. Everything bad seems to happen at once.

Anyway made it to see my doc at 7am. Finished with the examinations and all that. He got me wrapped in kinetic tape (not bandages) which hold the muscles together ... as apparently mine are all falling apart. Awful thing is the tape is in pink so I came home with pink tape showing from my collar ... the tapes there are used to hold my neck muscles, got many strange looks from people in the street. Weird looking.

Now I'm waiting for my appointment with my dental surgeon. Am totally stressed. And my knee and arm still hurt alot. I can't possibly walk the 3 km to his clinic so that means taking a taxi. That means 100 shekels or more.

Rocky in his new bed

So I've been thinking alot about Rocky. Nope I haven't forgotten about my beloved Rex. He's always number 1. But these days I'm worried because though I found Rocky a good home, he's not eating and has gone very thin. I wonder if he's missing his former owner or is it because he's not used to the new food. Poor Rocky is suffering. Well we all have our share of it. Only mine seems to be a larger share .....

Stromata

The weather has maintained its heat and humidity. Everyone is crying out for rain. We need it badly. 31 degrees is pretty hot for this period of time ... like the past years when we had the drought. But one good thing about the humidity at least is during the nights it makes dew - sometimes quite heavy - fall and this waters the grass and plants.

Dancing in the streets

The other evening we were greeted at the City Gate by a lovely procession of Ethiopic Orthodox people in procession. It was their feast of the Exultation of the Cross and they were all dressed up in traditional costumes and singing and dancing to the beat of their drum. They then proceeded into the Old City and into their church above the Holy Sepulchre. A lively break from the otherwise tense atmosphere of the City.

So it happened again - I blacked out and fell and scrapped my arm and knees. I think it was due to the crushed nerve in my neck. It happened the last time too. Luckily I was in my room and fell on the carpet, scrapping my arm on the table and not hitting my head on it. Now I've got a swollen knee and hurts when I walk. Time to rest, you say? No time for that.

Cardboard bicycle

Buying water from a truck

While most of us would take water for granted ... just turn on the tap and out it flows ... in Bethlehem and other parts of the Palestinian Territories, the residents get water supply occasionally and it is never announced. So most houses have cisterns to store run-off water and if that goes dry ... well you'll have to buy water from mobile water tanks to fill it up.

Today and tomorrow the temperature is suddenly rising really high. Heatwave almost. One good thing is when it gets so hot, no one goes out to cause trouble. So we get a little peace ... for the moment.

An Israeli inventor has created a bicycle out of cardboard. It's going to be quite a revolution for the poorest countries around the world. http://www.haaretz.com/news/features/an-israeli-cardboard-bicycle-that-could-change-the-world-1.470132

And the ultra-orthodox jews now have to serve military service, something which they have avoided for the past 50 years. http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=287899   Bad move since elections are up in 3 months and the ultra-orthodox hold a powerful bloc vote. And the govt. is giving itself a 3% pay rise .... bad timing. The people are still facing a financial crisis. It's going to be one exciting elections.