Snow on Hermon!

My Mr Dog shoes

Another storm broke last night and the temp. has fallen drastically ... down to 6 degrees but actually feels like 2. So says the weather forecast. Even the Polish guys feel cold ... so that's a good indication of  the weather now. And Mt. Hermon has snow for the first time this year! Let's hope this keeps up for the next weeks and into Christmas. Would be lovely to have Christmas in the snow. I've got my Mr Dog shoes out ... yup, it's that cold.

For the past several nights I've been having bad asthma attacks.  Must be the cold. I've got the heater on but it's not enough. Ventolin puffer is close at hand ... The headaches have mostly gone; it's the side effect of the medicine I'm taking.

Well one thing good about the cold and wet weather is nobody goes out to cause trouble. The streets are serene, tourists hardly anywhere as the 1st two weeks of December are notoriously low season. Tourists may come back during Christmas but we don't expect many because Christmas is primarily a family celebration and people prefer to remain at home.

And just received one piece of upsetting news - someone stole Rocky. We feared sooner or later Rocky would be stolen because he is such a nice dog and the arabs in the Bethlehem area are known to be dog-stealers. Rocky's chain was snapped and the thieves probably jumped over the fence. Fahdi the present owner is still frantically searching for Rocky ... and me and Ahmed (Rocky's first owner) are very upset.

Hanukkah

Hanukiah at Zion Square

Hanukkah begins tonight. It's the celebration of the Maccabee revolt against the Syrian occupation of Palestine which forced the jews to adopt gentile ways. Read it all in the Books of Maccabees. Every family lights the hanukkiah (9 candle stand). In Zion Square, as in former years, there's a giant hanukiah. And of course, eating sufgoniot is a must.

The weather for the past day was nice and sunny but the nights are cold. 8 degrees. Today the drizzles returned, overcast skies and very cold winds. We expect rain tomorrow and Monday. It's nice. We all know we need the rain because of the drought ... but still it's inconvenient going out when the streets are very slippery. Goodness knows why the municipality paves the streets with smooth Jerusalem stones that are a hazard whenever it rains or snows. This morning I saw mothers gingerly taking step after step over the slippery stones while carrying babies in their arms. One fall would spell disaster for both.

Yesterday's riot in Hebron has raised the security alert of the City again. Cavalry and more soldiers are out and about in the streets. But nothing happened. It's too cold and wet for people to go out. It's winter as usual.

Healthwise I was back to see my doc 2 days ago - blood pressure high, sugar level high, cholesterol high. Must be the sufgoniot. And the headaches are the side-effect of the new medicine I'm taking.  I'm recovering from a second cold now. Was caught again in the rain. With all the nose-wiping, I've developed a cold sore too. Not fun. Spending time in bed reading on my studies. I've got 4 new books to cover - all on classical Greek literature. Everyday it's Greek examples of epideictic literature: encomia, protreptikos .... I finally caught myself speaking greek to the prof. sitting next to me in the refectory. Luckily he also speaks greek. It's all getting too weird. I need a break.

Storm

El Wad street in the storm

The rainstorm came. It was a welcome rain but not when I get caught in it. Very heavy winds and cold. The nights are 8 degrees and the days are 13 degrees. The canaries are now in 3 small cages kept warm in the school corridor. I had a meeting yesterday evening and was almost all wet when I got there and back. Then the whole night I had a fever again ... and a splitting headache right up till now. What's with this headache thing? Somehow everyone seems to be getting it. Must be some chemicals in the air released during the previous week's war that the rains have precipitated. Everyone is getting this dizzy feeling with migraine like pain in the head. We need a sleuth to find out what's behind this mysterious sickness.

Meantime another type of storm is also brewing big time - political. The govt is bulldozing ahead with the building of 4000 houses in occupied Palestinian land despite several countries protesting. The Housing Planning Council met this morning to decide which areas should be built up first. Nothing will or can stop Israel. But in the streets, there's little reaction. People just want to continue making a living and feeding the family. So long as it's not their house or land, there's barely an eyelid batted.

St Barbara

A dramatic twist of soap-opera proportions in the Israeli punishment of Palestine; it's now revealed that the building of 4000 houses in E1, the confiscation of $120 million and other punitive measures against Palestine for it's successful bid in the UN, is actually a punishment against America, an open outright slap in the face of Obama. The poor pawn happened to be Palestine. America is reportedly furious but still is playing it's Hollywood part of the smiling handmaid of Israel and "nothing is wrong".  http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/u-s-angered-by-claim-that-new-building-at-e-1-aimed-at-obama-not-palestinians.premium-1.482197

Burbara cooked this
morning

The rains have come - hard and heavy. The winds were also strong. Much as I didn't want to, I was caught in the storm while on my way home from school. Luckily this time I had a plastic poncho so I was quite dry. Right now the rains have trickled to heavy drizzling. But I think it'll pick up again tonight.

And today is St Barbara's feastday. Locals make and eat the traditional "burbara" today - a very sweet mix of boiled barley, nuts, candies, pomegranates, anise .... It should be a festive time for children throughout Lebanon and Syria (Barbara was born in Lebanon) who go trick and treating in costumes because Barbara was constantly in disguise to escape the Roman soldiers. But with the dreadful war in Syria, we can only hope the children have enough food and shelter from this winter. St Barbara pray for them.

Autumn leaves

The Israeli punishment of Palestine gets a backlash from some european countries but America as usual is not saying anything. The 4000 houses to be built in E1 area effectively cuts off Bethlehem/Hebron from Jericho/Nablus/Ramallah because the only road that links these two West Bank regions lie in that area. It is the last strangle that will choke Palestine. Actually I'm surprised the rabbis have said nothing so far.  Such vindictiveness on Israel's part will not do it any good. Read the Bible ... it says everything.

The expected storm is brewing right now. The skies darkened by 4pm and a chill spread throughout. I think it will start raining tonight. I managed to get all the canaries into 3 smaller breeding cages and placed them indoors. They're too young to withstand the storm, cold and rain.

Autumn leaves

Waking up at 3am to teach is taking it's toll on me in this wintry weather. Asthma attacks the whole day and exhaustion ... so much so that I rested throughout the day, so no studies or work done. Bloody waste of time. But my health is not what it used to be. It's scary to think that I've passed the threshold to a slower sedentary life, reluctant to change, fear of catching a cold ..... aaaagggghhhhh why not get me a wheelchair and a fireplace? The autumn of life. And it's bad to be sick now ... the nurses have gone on strike ... again. It's exactly a year since the infamous strike that got me stuck.

The autumn leaves are showing up on City walls ... the creepers are the first to change, then the trees. It's a little late but at least the plants know its time to change before it's too late. Maybe Israel can learn something from that.

1st Sunday of Advent

Israel today punishes Palestine for getting the UN vote as a non-state member. It confiscated millions of dollars designated for Palestine donated by foreign countries and is building 4000 houses in settlements in Palestine. And of course America will tacitly nod its agreement.

The weather held up today. Everyone said it was beautiful. It was sunny and yet cool. About 23 degrees. But Tuesday will see a tremendous thunderstorm that may last for 4 days. This time I'm going to be very careful and not get caught in it. Last week's fever and pain is a lesson enough.

Little Rocky looks good

Being such a lovely day I went to see Rocky in his new home. He's alot thinner but still very happy. He has a large garden to run around, lots of cats to chase and is getting used to his new food. And it's time for his jabs. I hear he's very well behaved and the doctor likes him. He's so cute and friendly, we're afraid he might get stolen. He ran away twice and Fahdi his new owner was witless searching for him. As the weather gets chilly in the nights, Rocky is kept indoors. Also during the day when it rains. He's well behaved and sleeps in his bed all day and night when he's indoors. He's still a little dog - 7 months old.

Well it's the 1st Sunday of Advent. Liturgical colours change to purple. Readings go back to the Old Testament prophecies. Time for self-evaluation and introspection.

Weekend

This morning was especially upsetting when I read the news. A jewish rabbi took advantage of the pain and suffering of the war to collect millions of dollars from american evangelical "christians". And Israel is lauding him. The headlines read "When rockets start falling, Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein springs into action. The worse things look on the ground here, the easier it is to ask hundreds of thousands of evangelical Christians in America to open their pocketbooks." Shockingly disgusting.  

Christmas kitsch 24/7

The big news around town is the UN admission of Palestine into the non-state  observer status. On the ground, it doesn't mean anything. But psychologically it's a big boost to a hounded people. Lots of young people are wearing the arab headdress (khafr) or carry the Palestinian flag. Military presence was especially tight the past 2 days as Israel feared a rise in Palestinian nationalism against jews going to the Wailing Wall. 

On the christian side of the City, christmas decorations are up. Shops are selling the kitschy stuff. One shop actually is opened 24/7 .... horrors!! I'm just putting up a small christmas wreath with a candle. 

Healthwise I'm still nauseous and weak in the legs. I realised it could be due to hunger and exhaustion. I'm really stressed out and overworked. And I'm eating just a little because I'm not hungry. I only ate something because the medicine requires it. Today I was pretty giddy but still had to go out to do some chores. Really regretted it. What exhaustion .... Tomorrow begins Advent, a new liturgical year ... and I'm too tired to get started. Not ready.