Unanchored day

Wednesday ... cold and confusing. Haven't felt anchored at all the whole day. Slept badly the night before because my heater broke down. Had a late asthma attack at 5am. Rushing around for work (meaning having to line up in the bank and wait 2 hours for service), and got back home for more work. Head is still spinning. Everything seemed to just drift passed. Awful.

Mr. Bird posing by
my night light

Decided to go downstairs at 6pm to see who was around at the security. Good thing some crazy guys were there to chat. Shvuli, Itan and my buddy Avichai ... all of whom speak very little english and I speak only a little hebrew. Somehow we still managed to chat for 2 hours and laughed and updated on many things around the country. Hmmmm like another Gaza war might be lined up as there is no let up  of Gaza firing missiles into Israel. And the secret police arrested 3 arabs linked to Al Qaida planning to bomb several places in Jerusalem. Sounds like a bad dream ... it's making my head spin. Didn't help me feel anchored. But meeting the guys was good. Felt something familiar and anchored at last.

Mr. Bird was a good diversion from the otherwise strange day. He posed by my night light, then walked across my bed to my decorative chinese tea pot for another shot. He's very inquisitive now and loves to be scratched on the head. Everyone is growing fond of him. That's nice.

Of daffodils and other stuff

More rockets fired into Israel from Gaza ... looks like Israel is giving Gaza its last warning before a major offensive. Then again its all political posturing while the Peace Talks continue to take place. There's nothing serious ... once the talks are over, everything will be back to normal.

The infighting within the Jewish community is leading headlines these few days. The Chief Rabbinate in Israel refuses to recognise American rabbis ... and lots of other such things. Everyone is wondering if reducing the Chief Rabbinate to one instead of the existing two (Shephardi and Ashkenazi) will solve all this. Like I always say .. its due for a major implosion.

Daffodils in bloom

Anyway on the bright side, the flowers are nicely blooming in this cold crisp climate. My asthma problem is partially alleviated now that I'm on another type of medicine. Its a nose spray type thingo that works for several hours, though it gives me an enormous headache for the first half hour. Docs still say I have to get the growth out of my sinus as its the main source of my asthma. But I'm not decided where to have it done. It can get very costly on the Israeli side ... though its guaranteed to be a success.

Harvesting lemons

Two explosions heard in Eilat just now. Israel thinks it's rockets fired from Sinai. Let's hope it's not another round of Sinai attacks. Back inland, attacks have stopped though. That's good news for us.

Lemon harvesting time

Yesterday a bill was forwarded to the Knesset (Parliament) aimed at changing the existing Chief Rabbinates. Instead of a Chief Rabbi each for the Sephardi and Ashkenazi communities, there will only be one Chief Rabbi for both groups. I wonder how these two diverse and sometimes fiercely independent groups would accept that. The Chief Rabbinate practically functions as the High Priesthood without the cultic liturgical role since the Temple no longer exists. Nowadays the priestly cast is subservient to the rabbis.

My asthma attacks have been less severe. Am learning how to handle it. But have been feeling weak. Blacked out twice this morning in the library. Everyone thinks I'm not eating enough. I don't know. Thought maybe blood pressure has dropped again.

After Tu B'Shvat last Thursday, it's time for harvesting our lemons from the 3 trees. This year the trees are prolific ... have never been so fruitful in these past few years. I dug up the soil from their troughs and added lots of home-made compost. Now the branches are almost breaking because of the numerous lemons. And the fruit are very fragrant. Everyone is remarking how sweet they smell.

2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time

Green is back ... at least for the liturgical colours. It's back to Ordinary Time ... and the Sunday Gospel readings revolve around Matthew's Gospel and it's message of God's Kingdom. Nice to keep that in mind when attending Sunday Mass.

The Russian Tower all
wrapped up

Way up on the Mt. of Olives, the huge tower of the Russian Orthodox monastery is wrapped up like a Christmas present. Besides obviously being renovated, I hear it'll have a gold roof.

Carpenters called to say they'll deliver the 12 tables and chairs for the library. I waited 2 hours in the cold, made 6 calls ... and finally they said they're not coming after all. Perhaps tomorrow. That's life here ... never rely on words. It's only words. "Today" means "tomorrow, or next day, or next week or next month". Asian efficiency is a dream here. Absolutely frustrating.

Anyway while waiting in the freezing street for those liars, I managed to catch up with my Jewish security friends. Everyone there looked tired and cold. Strasberg was especially tired ... he just had a baby last week and he has to wake up in the nights to care for his baby son Rafael. Two new guys became fast friends with me - Menachem and Ishai. Ishai was very nice and invited me to his house for the Sabbath meal. I'll definitely go once he can fix his schedule and is sure he'll be home. King Kong was so tired, while he was bodyguarding a group to the Wailing Wall, he walked into a pole and bashed his head.

Well if that's anything to go by, it heralds a long tiring week ahead of us.

Tu Bishvat

Dumpling dinner

Yesterday was Tu Bishvat ... the jewish celebration of the New Year for Trees or arbor day. Quite a complex history and tradition as this write-up shows -  http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-features/.premium-1.569005  It's a lovely Spring celebration to enjoy the fresh produce of the land.

Ah Ling of Mandarin Restaurant called to say she boiled dumplings and asked me over for dinner. It was very nice. 15 hot prawn dumplings ... It was the 2nd warm meal I had this week. The restaurant was pretty crowded which is typical of a Sabbath evening. Lots of Jews avoid cooking on the Sabbath (making a fire is against the Sabbath law) so they prefer going to a restaurant. I sat in a corner near the kitchen and enjoyed my meal.

I learned another thing about controlling my nightly asthma attacks. I must drink and eat something whenever an attack starts ... it helps wash down the mucous that blocks my airways and also stabilise the pressure inside the sinus. So I try to keep a couple of biscuits on hand.

Scrambled egg skies

And talking about food, yesterday's sunrise reminded me of scrambled eggs. It's amazing that since the snowstorm, the skies have been incredible in producing fantastic sunrises and sunsets. The weather has warmed up during the day ... 21 degrees but soon it'll drop again. Perhaps we'll get another dump of snow later in February. It would be nice ... if it snowed just for a couple of days.

Full moon

Full moon over the
City Walls

The week drags on ... got news that a couple fo days ago, an arab stabbed a jew in Damascus Gate. No wonder the City was in high alert. It wasn't due to Sharon's death as I previously thought.

The nightly asthma attacks have not stopped. Went to Rani the Pharmacist and he suggested anti-histamine nose-spray each night. Will give it a try. Anyway I must have the op. soon as it's the growth inside the sinus that's causing this severe asthma. Every night is a nightmare as I have to walk around for a couple of hours in order for the asthma to wear off.

Yesterday we saw a beautiful full moon over the City. Captivating. The sunrises are spectacular in this cold dry weather but this time the moon outdid the sun. I noted a student in Doha caught a similar moon in his FB pic.

The new Rossini

On an up note, Rossini's has re-opened. The proprietor is new but the staff is the same. The menu is alot simpler, more popular while trying to keep the classy atmosphere that the original Rossini's is remembered for.

Then it's work as usual. I really want it to stop by Chinese New Year. I deserve a good break. Honestly. Am just so tired physically and mentally these few weeks, I don't think I can go on for the rest of the year.

Israel meltdown

What a scene today ... Israel's Defense Minister meltdown under American pressure over Peace Talks with the Palestinians. Offensive discriminatory names launched at Sec. of State John Kerry. Now the PM and Knesset have to scramble for damage control. This has only revealed one thing .... Israel can crack under US pressure. http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/Yaalon-criticized-for-reportedly-calling-Kerry-obsessive-messianic-338109

My small radiator broke down yesterday night and I was left shivering through the cold night. It was 4 degrees. Well to be honest it was made in China and cost only 70 shekels. So what do you expect? I should go and buy another one but the thought of walking out in the cold now just puts me off. So I'll probably hide under a pile of blankets and jackets.

Hae Mee cooked by me

The asthma is still the same for the past few days. One severe attack each night and then several smaller starts during the day which I manage to keep under control through power of the mind - "Don't panic! Don't panic!"It actually works.

And I finally managed to cook Prawn Noodle Soup (Hae Mee / Har Meen) on my electric rice cooker. The soup stock was a gift from a Singapore group of pilgrims. I managed to buy fresh bean sprouts (towgay) and spinach, egg noodles and frozen prawns and Thai fish cake. It's not like the real stuff you get back home but it was better than nothing. Loved it. But the washing up after that ... it's enough to dissuade me from cooking again.