Of war and peace

Raudel's 1st try
with chopsticks

Jerusalem is incredibly hot ... definitely not good for my recovery. I need to keep cool, not raise a temp. otherwise my nose starts bleeding again. And then there's work closer at hand ... calls, demands, questions ... things that I can ignore if I were 70 km away. Maybe it was a mistake to come back to Jerusalem. It doesn't seem to help my healing.

I forgot to take optalgin (painkiller) last night so the dull pain in the sinus was killing me. And the heat was unbearable. I didn't want to set up the huge fan as any strain would cause a blood vessel to burst. So I spent most of the night sitting out on the terrace where a cool breeze was blowing. Muslims were enjoying the meals and making merry through the night .... luckily without any incident with the police. But the news tells us that squirmishes and riots took place in other parts of Israel and Palestine.

More missiles were launched into Tel Aviv this morning. None so far to Jerusalem ... but we'll see later this evening.

Apo's birthday lunch:
baked St. Denise fish

Despite all the bad news, my few days spent in recovery in Jaffa were great. Two of the friars celebrated their birthdays, and some visiting students passed a day off there as well. The atmosphere is always caring, friendly and happy. Everyone there made sure I had a quiet restful time. No disturbance, no demands. I had aircon in my room, with a lovely view of the Mediterranean Sea from the window. In the nights, I'd take a walk down the beach to breathe in the salty breeze which the docs said will help heal the wounds. Families of muslims breaking the Ramadan fast gather to eat and barbeque in the beach. It was all so very nice. To show my appreciation for the community's care, I offered to do lunch for them - chinese food bought from the nearest Chinese Restaurant in Tel Aviv. They thoroughly enjoyed it. Some had their first try using chopsticks. A couple of days later, the joint birthday celebration of Apo and Edoardo saw pastoral collaborators from the Tel Aviv area gathered for lunch. Again it was a very pleasant time ... and we actually had ice-cream! That was so good for my fever and bleeding nose! Now to think of it, it's a mistake coming back to Jerusalem.

Back again

Am finally back online. The war has begun ... 100 rockets fired into Israel and Israel is bombarding Gaza. As I left my Jaffa community this evening, missile alert sirens blared and we had to run for cover. An explosion was heard nearby. After returning home to Jerusalem, another siren sounded and an explosion occurred nearby too. 6000 people evacuated from a concert near the Old City. Bomb shelters opened in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. This war is really serious.

Lovely sunset from my
window as I recovered

Yes I had my operation at least. It was due on Friday last but was called off because no one wanted to give me general anesthesia. Head pulmonologist of the area was called but he refused to give the ok. Definitely will kill me. So after 3 days a compromise was reached. Local anesthesia with sedation. Took almost 2 hours but everything went smoothly ... at least that was what I was told. Despite warnings that post-op pain will be dreadful, I suffered little of it. But the bleeding was awful. Can't stop. After a week, I went back to the hospital to have the stitches and splint removed. Again no-stop bleeding. They kept me in hospital for 2 hours trying to stop the bleeding but failed. Went back to my community in Jaffa to recuperate despite the bleeding.

Thanks to all of you for your prayers, support and help which enabled me to pay for the hospital bills, medicines and transport. Appreciate your kindness.

Thursday

And it's Thursday. 5am and moving out to the hospital. I'll have to be tested first to see if I'm ready for the op. Could be that my blood pressure is too low still ... or some other reason that the docs might say I'm not ready. Anything can happen. But I really hope they can go ahead with it on Friday so I can breathe and see better. No more asthma please.

Pedestrians watching the game

Yesterday morning was a big rush to finish off several chores ... which meant running from East Jerusalem to West Jerusalem. Halfway through in the awful heat, I received a phone call telling me the TV crew was waiting for my interview back in the library. Ran back home. It was unbelievably hectic. After that I was so tired I just slept for 4 hours over books, notes, and lots of other things in the midst of packing. Fatigue has never been so strong as in the last few months. Old age? asthma? not eating enough? Well people seem to have alot of energy last night watching Italy vs Uruguay. Pedestrians stopped by cafes and restaurants that offer the live telecast on TV on the streets. Where do they get all that energy from watching all night the games and then going to work the next day?

So this is probably the last blog till after the op ... if the docs decide I'm ready for it.

2 more days ...

Ah Ling the manageress
of Mandarin Restaurant

Another tiring day as I wanted to finish all my chores and work before the operation. Also cleared up my room and ordered my documents so if something should happen to me during the operation, the others will be able to find my documents easily. But the luggage of medicine for the Sisters of Mother Teresa still fill my room as they have not come to collect the stuff. The bombings between Israel and Gaza have made journeying in or out of Gaza very dangerous. Will have to wait for a cease fire before they can come out to collect your donations.

Ah Ling called again asking me to go to Mandarin's for dinner. This evening there was white rice, lamb, egg-tomato soup and glass noodle salad. It was great. Patrons at other tables asked if they could have what I was eating but were told it's not in the menu. You can imagine the looks on their faces.

Dinner at Mandarin's

Met up my good Israeli friends at the security exit. Since yesterday there was Abraham, Yogev, Ilya, David, Dani, Rafi, Yaeger, Vlad and several old friends whom I've not seen for some time as they resigned from the job. It was good to see them again and they wished me good luck and wanted to see me back real quick after the operation so we can continue our daily chats and jokes. They're really a great bunch of guys. Also met with my best friend for an hour and chatted. He and another friend insisted on coming with me to the hospital but I told them no need as there was no room in the hospital for visitors to stay overnight. Hidri whom some of you have sponsored for his seminary studies also came to see me. He also wanted to stay overnight at the hospital with me. And many sincere thanks to all your well wishes and prayers. Appreciate them all.

Legacy

The funeral of p. Kaswalder took place on Saturday morning. Church was crowded with past students, profs and academics. Was sad that someone so young in academic life was taken off so suddenly. His family came form Italy for the funeral.

Sunrise hitting the courtyard of
St. Peter's in Jaffa

I had to rush back to Jerusalem for the funeral as I was visiting the doc the day before. Being a evening appointment, I did not feel strong enough to come back in the night so the superior of Jaffa told me to stay over and they'd drive me back the next morning as they too wanted to join in the funeral.

The rest of Saturday and Sunday were filled with chores but I had to sleep several hours in the afternoons as I felt (and still feel) very weak. Hope it won't affect my operation. In fact I've been feeling sleepy and weak these few days ... maybe it's the medicine. The heat is not helping though. Temperatures go up to 30 degrees or more, and the nights can be 26 degrees as well though it suddenly drops to 16 degrees at 4am. It's always 4am in the morning that gets the coolest. Then it picks up again.

Anyway 3 days before operation. I'm cleaning up my room and putting in order everything so should anything happen to me, they'd know where to find my documents and what to do with my books and birds and fish.  What a legacy.

P. Pietro Kaswalder R.I.P.

P. Kaswalder R.I.P.

The knock on my door at 2.30pm brought shocking news. One of our younger professors, Fr. Pietro Kaswalder was found died in his bed probably due to a heart attack. He had no major health issues. In fact yesterday evening he went out for his usual walk, then I saw him smoking on the terrace. At dinner he was joking with the sisters in the kitchen. Then this morning, everyone noticed he was missing for breakfast and lunch. When they opened his room door, they found him in bed. R.I.P.

He was my professor in biblical geography which he specialised. Also taught me a couple of courses in biblical theology. He knew his stuff. Always on the move. Wry humour.

It was his time. Unexpected. Made everyone here think about their own mortality. And mine too as I head for my operation next week.

Food galore

Lotus bulb, gingko nuts
and barley soup

You would have thought that one week before my operation, I should be relaxing in preparation. Instead Monday and today was so packed with work, sometimes 2 appointments at the same time in 2 different places .... I'm totally wrecked. This morning I had 3 appointments at the same time. I was ready to faint ... especially when I have to run 1 km from one place to another in this very hot weather.

Am so exhausted each evening, I cannot even go and see the Festival of Lights in the Jaffa Gate area. And the pain in the sinus area is awful. Gives me a splitting headache and I get dizzy most of the time. Just need to lie down. But no ... it's classes, work, meetings, writing reports .... I'm sure the op. will do me good ... if I survive it.

Last night's dinner

Ah Ling from Mandarin Restaurant is the only one (actually ehr husband too and the waitress Cha-Cha) who's worried about my operation. She's been cooking lots of food and getting me to eat every evening there so I can be strengthened for the operation. Two nights ago it was beef-steak with gingko nuts/lotus bulbs/barley soup. Last night it was steamed fish, fatty pork with dried doufu, and squid with veggies. Certainly good food ... but I get diarrhea each time I eat. So I'm not sure if it's strengthening me.