Preparations for the Light Fest

A test run of an amazing light
exhibit in the gardens below
St. Savior's Monastery (New Gate)

The City is bustling with activities. Workmen and artists are etting up exhibitions inside and outside the Old City for the annual Festival of Lights beginning this Thursday. The starting point is Jaffa Gate where the same Light Dome dominates the huge Square like last year. Again like last year, there will be 3 routes: one through the Jewish/Armenian Quarter, one through the Christian Quarter and one along the City walls down to Damascus Gate and the border between teh Muslim Quarter and Christian Quarters. There're no exhibits in the Muslim Quarter as there'll always be vandalism and fear of violence. This year there's an addition to the Festival - a tower of light at the Jaffa Road junction. There'll be music and performances as well. Will be quite an experience.

In Damascus Gate's Palm Square, workers are stringing lights between the palms. Should be an interesting exhibit. Most of these exhibits along the City Walls are from international companies. Those inside the City Walls are local productions.

And the cold night winds will be welcome during the Festival of Lights when the streets and alleys are packed with thousands of visitors. Huge crowds plus high powered lights build up the heat by several degrees and can become very uncomfortable.

The asthma has been unbearable ... attacks now occur even during the day. Ah Ling of Mandarin Restaurant boiled herbs with pork ribs and called me over to eat last night. It should strengthen me for a while as I've been feeling terribly weak and listless. But that'll not stop me from walking the routes of the Festival of Lights. It'll be a nice break.

Twisted ankle

Yesterday Pentecost saw a flurry of events. There was our usual Status Quo celebrations but this year without the Custos as he had to rush to the Vatican for the last minute organised Prayer Summit between the presidents of Israel and Palestine with the Pope. The Custos not only represents the Holy Places in the meeting, he's also the Pope's translator from italian into hebrew and vice versa. He's very talented. Watching the video at Catholic News Service fb ... wow ... our Custos was walking on the same line as the powers that be. Says alot.

The Hooded Rider
strikes again

I was busy as usual ... clash of various appointments. Had to juggle and cancel some. I'm just so exhausted. This year if there's going to be any summer renovation jobs, I'm NOT going to supervise them. I'm NOT going to burn another summer vacation which I did for the past 2 years. I'm tired, exhausted ... I need to rest. And my asthma has become very very bad as well. Hardly sleeping for the past 2 weeks. Now the attacks even come during the day. And the morning nosebleeds are getting more severe. Am due for a pre-op checkup soon. Something must be done quickly or I'll choke to death one day. And with all the rushing from one work place to another, I twisted my left ankle again. It's the same old injury ... the left ankle is simply too weak to take the strain of heavy work anymore. Instead of climbing up and down the hill some 1 to 2 kms everyday for work ... I'm thinking of getting a motorbike license.

Weatherwise the heat wave is terrible. Scorching during the day but the nights get so cold. The Festival of Lights begin this Thursday. I hope my ankle will be good enough for me to walk around the City and see this.

Pentecost and exams

Students slogging in the library

So a whole week has passed. The heatwave is hitting us with temperatures of 38 degrees on Tuesday but dropped to a cold damp Wednesday. Perfect weather for viruses. You never know what to wear as heat and cold just changes so quickly. The Jewish Pentecost came and went without much major incident. Several zionist ultra-orthodox jews tried to enter the Al Aqsa Mosque area but were stopped by police. Now it's our turn for Pentecost.

The Pope's invitation to Israeli President Peres and Palestinian President Abbas to the Vatican tomorrow for a Prayer Summit is our only hope now for a peaceful solution to the dead-end talks brokered by the USA. Let's hope the Holy Spirit will descend on all and inspire some breakthrough to the stalemate.

Sr. Nimfa our graduate

Exams are underway ... and some already finished. Nimfa, our filipina student and PDDM sister graduated at last. It was a proud moment for her and her community. She treated her classmates and professors ... and me ... to a great dinner at Notre Dame Center. Soon she'll return to the Philippines to teach but I hope she'll also do her PhD soon. Meantime other students are slogging to get through the exams. Our library is full even on a Saturday. Even students of govt. schools are doing their exams. Tense moment for many families especially those doing Tawjihi or matriculation (A levels). It'll determine if they get to further studies or out looking for a job ... which is practically impossible as unemployment is at an all time high both in Israel and Palestine.

Giant Teddybear

The heat is on ... forecast for tomorrow is a superhigh 34 degrees! But the nights still get very chilly. That makes people sick ... and all us asthmatics are suffering big time every night. The sand in the air, typical of the hamsin sandstorms during this period (Pentecost = hamsin = 50) is bad for us with respiratory problems.

Tensions seem to have died down. No religious feastdays for all 3 religions this month .... so things will be alot more calm. Exams however are on and students are nervously gathering in street corners studying. Most stay at home in the nights to study as well ... so less trouble in the streets.

On a lighter side, seen in the Nahalat Shiva neighbourhood ... a teddybear of King Kong proportions climbing up a construction crane. Brings a smile to everyone who notices it ... and mind you, not many people do. Everyone is busy with their cellphones and smartphones ... no one ever looks up anymore. I believe we'll soon have a generation of people suffering from neck problems and poor body posture ... everyone is hunched forward, focussed on the tiny screen on the phone.

Today was really fantastic ... mainly because I had no class at 4am (solar time). And in the afternoon I had a rare opportunity to sleep another 3 hours until a phone call disturbed me. But it was good to be able to sleep. I really need it as the nightly asthma attacks keep me awake.

Of crows and cats

The events of the past few days have been overwhelming. In the midst of all that, we learnt that the visiting Maronite Patriarch of Lebanon was the target of an assassination attempt. No wonder he had bulletproof cars to bring him around ... and lots of Israeli bodyguards.

Crows atatck .. and the cat runs

And the violence have spread to the animal world. Yesterday morning I heard the crows making a dreadful racket on the terrace. I was watering the plants and ignored them ... but the cawing got more vicious. So I turned to see what was the matter. Two crows are attacking a black cat sitting on the edge of our 5 storey terrace. That's the awful cat that poos and digs up all my plants. The crows got closer and one pecked the cat on the tail. The cat ran like crazy pass me (the only way out) to the terrace of the next house.

One of the lilies

And talking about flowers ... the lilies have finally bloomed. Very beautiful but they require alot of water under the scorching sun.

The workload is piling up again as the end of the school year approaches. I really hope the holidays begin soon ... not that I get a holiday but at least the workload will be alot less ... I think.

Jerusalem Day violence

An endless wave of israeli
Jews coming down toward
East Jerusalem

Wednesday's Jerusalem Day parade was probably one of the most violent I have seen ... and one of the most frightening. Tens of thousands of Israeli Jews marched down from West Jerusalem toward the East where some 50 years ago the israeli army stormed and occupied to make it a "unified" City. Of course there's 2 sides to every story. To the arabs living in East Jerusalem, that was the beginning of the "Jewish occupation" of Palestine. Tensions are never far when this commemoration day is "celebrated".

By 4pm when the waves of israeli jews descended non-stop toward Easy Jerusalem, the police and soldiers began closing down the Muslim Quarter and blockading all roads in and outside the City. In our street, I had to stop for 2 barriers whose police absolutely refused to let me pass. I was diverted to the alley beside the 3rd Station where I managed to join a small group of tourists to get out to El Wad street. There were 5 more barriers along that street before I could get out of Damascus Gate but the thousands of dancing Jews was beginning to block the entrance.

Angry crowd confronting police as
road to East Jerusalem is blocked

An hour later the youthful crowds led by their rabbis became violent. They tried to storm East Jerusalem but the police would not let them. Mounted police blocked the road and finally stun grenades were finally fired to disperse the aggressive crowd. So they started picking on any passing arab and beating them up. It was frightening to see thousands of setting upon one or two arabs, kicked, beaten, spat .... you would have thought the jews had learnt something from their own history about treating others. The seething hatred for arabs flooded the area and arab TV crews were attacked next. The arab cameramen and reporters had to run and hide inside their mobile satellite vans. Several were badly beaten.

More violence ensued as the wave of people entered the Muslim Quarter. I heard families and even

Arab TV crews before they
were attacked

children of arabs being attacked. Later I received news that an israeli policeman was killed when he fell off the roof of a building after a stone was thrown at him. I was getting frightened as I was stuck in the carpark of Damascus Gate photographing the incidents. I could not go home and it was getting very dark and cold ... but the endless wave of israelis kept streaming into the Old City. Suffice to say I managed to reach home only 4 hours later safe and sound but quite terrified.

As expected today Friday, arab revenge attacks started. Last night midnight I saw an israeli jew with a head wound escorted by police in front of our door. That explained the numerous ambulances and police cars rushing to Herod's Gate. The arabs had begun attacking jews. The revenge violence went on the whole night with police firing stun grenades till about 5am when the Muslim Quarter and the eastern City Gates were closed off ... again. Let's see what tomorrow brings .... my friend and neighbour Kahmees is getting married tonight and I hope the tension in the City will not spoil his wedding.

Guess who came for lunch?

Meeting the sisters who work
in the kitchen

Word is out ... and lots of photos too .... of an unexpected guest for lunch at our St Saviour's Monastery last Monday. None other than the pope himself. He was scheduled to have lunch at the Notre Dame Centre after a meeting with the Prime Minister .... but suddenly asked to have lunch across the road at St Saviour's instead. Don't know what happened to the prepared lunch at Notre Dame though ... he probably asked the food to be given to the poor. And St Saviour's was not prepared for a papal guest for lunch. He had to eat what we all eat ... spaghetti and a piece of chicken. Nothing more. But I'm sure that's what he wanted ... something homely and unpretentious. But the main reason I think he wanted lunch with us was because he wanted to thank the friars for their 800 year service in the Holyland. His speech after lunch was more or less: if not for the friars' service these 800 years in the Holyland, there would have been no more christian presence, no more churches and sanctuaries. It was a very nice gesture of thanks from the pope. We all appreciated that.  After all he never had a chance to meet or speak with the friars all the 2 days of his visit.

Meeting old Fr Mancini who 50 yrs
ago, welcomed Pope Paul VI

Meeting the friars

Farewell at the courtyard

Thanking the friars

Thanking the cooks

With Fr. General (L) and the
Custos (R)