Cheer and drear

As the year crawls towards its end, the weather seems to be protesting. Very cold and gray, with threatening rain clouds waiting to strike any moment. And my asthma seems to be in sync. Found out this almost annual malady is due to the change of temperature in the weather plus the polyps and messed up septum in the nose plus allergy to canary poop. This is really a dumper as it makes my nights sleepless and my days tiring.

Notre Dame wrapped in
Christmas lights

But  on the cheery side, Christmas lights are up in all christian places by now. This year Notre Dame really outdid itself. Very impressive light show. Then of course you have alot of tasteless decorations in many other places that make a mockery out of Christmas.

Groups are picking up in numbers for Christmas, most will spend Christmas in Bethlehem. That's one day in the year when Bethlehemites make a small profit from the tourists. Then they struggle to make ends meet for the rest of the year. It'll be fun to spend Christmas Vigil in Bethlehem but I'm not going if it rains. I don't need to be sicker than I am right now.

The municipality is making renovations all along Haggai Street (El Wad street) and Via Dolorosa. Pretty messy as machinery dig up half the road. If it rains, the roads will be muddy and slippery.

So another 10 days before 2012 fades into history and 2013 makes its entrance. Full of cheer and drear.

Cold

Bethlehem Christmas tree

The giant Christmas Tree in Manger Square, Bethlehem  has been lighted and it looks magnificent. The lighting and decorations were done by an english company form Liverpool. The crib at the bottom of the tree is tastefully done ... nothing kitschy. And a huge stage was erected on the side for choir performances on the night of Dec 24.

The temperature these days are no more than 9 degrees and its very chilly. The nights go down to 5 degrees. On coming Thursday night it'll start raining and peak on Friday/Saturday with a thunderstorm. Temperature will drop to 3 degrees. Christmas is going to be very very cold and wet. Hanukkah ended yesterday.

But studies continue ... reading and writing everyday. The heater is on but it's not enough so I think I'll have to use the radiator tonight.

Chilly Sabbath

Like a pillar of fire ... 

A chilly Sabbath today. Crispy but chilly. It's 13 degrees now. The sun is shining bright though. In the morning I saw a magnificent sight over the Mt. of Olives ... a swirling cloud just like a hurricane rising from the top of the mountain up to the sky, but shining red because of the sunrise behind it. It reminded me of the pillar of fire in the exodus.

The tragic killing of teachers and students in the US school is the buzz around town. It's unbelievable how it could happen ... even for us living in this country where violence is relatively a daily occurrence, we never have had such a tragedy occur in a school. Received a photo message of a t-shirt written "How could you allow such violence in schools, God?" and God replies "I'm not allowed in schools". Succinct yet poignant answer to this american problem.

Christmas is approaching ... let's not forget the spiritual aspect of it. Go to http://elwebcast.blogspot.com for a daily short reflection on Advent.

Thanks

... for the ginger snaps, prosciutto, biscuits, blanket, Osim. Got everything.

Stromata

Rioting and deaths in Hebron these past 2 days. 16 year old arabs shot dead. The version from SCMP says "Israeli policewoman pumps six bullets into teen on birthday.."
http://thestandard.com.hk/breaking_news_detail.asp?id=29293
while the Israeli newspaper version headlines "IDF shoots, critically injures Hebron rioter".
http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=295880

Another tree turns brilliant gold
in this weather

The power of rhetoric. Anyway violence in Hebron is no surprise. It's always been a flashpoint back in the 2 Intifadas. Today Friday we expect more tension in Hebron. But that's 60km away from Jerusalem. A totally different world. Jerusalem so far is normal. No extra police or cavalry. If there's any tension, its the weather - cold and overcast ... a bummer for the weekend.

Turning to Israel, it's still Hanukkah season. This 8 day celebration is often compared to Christmas but Jews detest that. Whatever it is, I like the part when sufgoniot is eaten ... this year I've tried banana sufgoniot, pistachio, chocolate, tiramisu, blue berry, vanilla ... my diabetes has gone super duper sky high. Doc warned me not to eat them again ... but we'll see.

Sufgoniot treat: coffee choc,
blueberry, pistachio, multi choc ...
It's diabetic hell with a smile

The asthma is not getting any better but I'm using Olbas Oil as an inhalent. Sure clears up the stuffy nose and relieves the lungs. Should get some more as I'm down to my last bottle ... but they're not on available in Israel. Will need some angels from Singapore to help me.

Burbara seeds

Another very cold day ... with drizzle and overcast skies. The ground is so wet and slippery it's a hazard going out. People are getting sick.

Sprouting burbara seeds
on our window sill

The beans are sprouting! They're placed on wet cotton and left to sprout on the Feast of St Barbara to commemorate her escape from Roman soldiers through a freshly sown field. The seeds miraculously sprouted to cover her tracks. Nowadays christian families sprout seeds and when they're fully grown, they're placed on the Christmas cribs as decorations. Seeds are chosen from barley, chick pea, millet, lentils ... anything green and grassy. Lovely tradition.

Was out to see my doc this morning. Woke up late - 4am. Had to go to Tel Aviv for appointment at 8am. Was late. But half way through, a call came to say that the workers in the library are sick and cannot work at the afternoon shift. So I had to terminate my appointment and travel 70km back to Jerusalem, walked another 1km in the rain to get back to work in the library. Utterly exhausted.

And yesterday we didn't have Internet connection for 24 hours. I had to cancel a class as a result. When the Internet company guys came to check the problem, they said someone pulled my cable out of the server. What??????? I was fuming mad!!! That got me into another asthma attack.

Mist

Mt of Olives and sunrise all
smothered by the heavy mist

We woke up to a very very foggy morning ... the Mt. of Olives was not visible, not even the sun rising behind it. And the western half of the City was equally enveloped by the mist. And it was very cold. The temperature dropped to 4 degrees during the night. The rains had stopped though but the cold lingers.

After the mist lifted, a brilliant sunshine slapped the City awake. Kids were out in the streets again, the Suq (markets) were busy with buyers and sellers. Life back as usual.

Perhaps too much life back as usual. This morning the Monastery of the Cross was again vandalised by fanatic Jews - the 2nd time this year. They sprayed "Price Tag" (meaning revenge for dismantling settlements in Palestinian land) and "Jesus is a bastard". I wonder what would happen if someone sprayed an equivalent insult on a synagogue. And for the record, the vandals who burnt the Trappist Monastery chapel doors, vandalised the same Monastery of the Cross previously, the Last Supper Chapel etc.... they were never caught after 1 year. But in 2 hours the guys who planted the bomb in a Tel Aviv bus was arrested. Disturbing and unsettling discrepancy.

Well things are not too good healthwise either. Asthma every night. Dreadful pain in the right shoulder and neck. And today I had to work extra hard in the library as some employees were sick. I'm so very tired. Wish the mist would wrap me up and set me to a long painless sleep for once.