Tawjihi

Bloody nose

Awful morning. Had to work. Moved some 20 boxes of boxes to check if the books should be discarded. Wore gloves and mask for protection this time. But with the heat and the exertion, a blood vessel burst in the nose. Had some heavy bleeding. They had to bring me to the nearby pharmacist who got me rested in the aircon room till the blood stopped. Walked home 1km and decided to rest at home for the afternoon. Of course it's easy to say "Take a rest" but with a a frustrated petty ex-nun working there and making life miserable for everyone else, I had to be there to keep things in order. More unnecessary stress.

All morning there were explosions around the Muslim and Christian Quarters. Not bombs though but fireworks. It's Tawjihi Day ... or metriculation. The results were released today and those who passed, their families announce the success by firing fireworks. Back in ancient days, they used to fire guns. It's very arabic.

But some missiles were fired towars Tel Aviv this evening and also north into Haifa. Bad news for Israel is that a couple of missiles were also fired from Lebanon and Syria. Looks like we're cornered.

Managed to meet some of my Israeli security friends today ... the few minutes that I went out or came home from work. It was good to see them. They're always asking how was the op and how I've been. They care. I appreciate that. They made my day.

First 2014 Ramadan dinner

Monday and I'm back at work. I know I mustn't, but people are just so utterly useless or selfish ... so I had to go back to work at 9am till 4pm. Besides paper work, payments of bills and giving workers instructions on what work they ought to be doing (no brainer), I started on clearing out the 200 boxes of  books in the old library that's now to be turned into a museum. Very bad choice of work. So much dust, I think I caught an infection in my nasal area. Absolutely awful.

After that I had to rush home, wash up from the filth of dusts collected over 80 years ... then off to the Mt. of Olives to collect stuff from a visiting group. Thanks to Jonice, Michelle Lam and everyone else for your help and gifts ... especially the packs of chinese herbal soup! But no rest. My eyes are bursting with heat and pain, my nose is bleeding .... I wish I was back in far away Jaffa where there are no demands and work, where it's cool (in air-condition!) and I can rest in bed the whole day till I heal. FAT HOPES!

Simple but best dinner
I ever had - cooked by a
friend who cared

Yesterday there were no missiles shot into Jerusalem .... we all expected that. Everyone was too busy watching the World Cup final. I had my first Ramadan dinner for 2014.  My best friend had invited me over for dinner after the fast was broken at sunset. However his family had to rush off to an emergency.  My friend didn't want to call off the dinner invite so he stayed back and cooked a very simple fare that we both ate - fried chicken breasts and potato chips with salad. And of course Coca Cola. It may not the usual Ramadan dinner which is a feast that lasts for 3 hours or more ... but it was certainly the best because my friend took the trouble to stay back and cook it.  He wanted me to relax and get unstressed from the day's demands. And that was what I really appreciated ... someone who care enough to make my healing better, not worse. Mind you my nose was bleeding like a waterfall. We chatted, ate and watched TV till his 2 younger brothers came home. That was the happiest moment since my return to Jerusalem.

Night time battle

All night battle in our neighbourhood ... couldn't sleep a wink. Arab locals apparently had smashed security cameras in the neighbourhood. When soldiers stepped in, the arabs shot fireworks at them. The soldiers returned fire with stun grenades. Then a cat-and-mouse chase along the alleys of the Bab Hutta neighbourhood - the poorest area in the Old City. Our street was blocked from our garage entrance down to Lions' Gate and eventually spread to Herod's Gate. Now all that started from 2am and ended toward 4.30am. With arabs shouting "Allahu akbar" and soldiers yelling orders ...  and multiple massive explosions ...  it made sleeping impossible. I'm absolutely certain coming back was a mistake ... I can't recover here. I need to get out.

The amazing colours of
summer fruit and veggies
in our kitchen. 

The heat remains stifling ... 32 or more during the day and 26 degrees during the night. Have been putting an ice-pack over my eyes and nose to stop the hemorrhaging. Despite the sleepless night, I had a hectic morning. A chinese group came to visit me, then an indian group, then Sr Aroti from Mother Teresa's sisters. She was superior of Gaza but now is transferred to Syria. She came to say goodbye.

Afternoon is another work ... the ethiopic rite chaplain for eritrean and ethiopic christians want me to show him the roads and churches as he has to celebrate the liturgy in several of these places. He's new. But the heat will be terrible in the afternoon. We'll see how I can handle the strong sunlight and heat. Hopefully tonight my arab friend will invite me over to his house for Ramadan dinner. It's always nice to be there ... that would be a great break from an otherwise overpowering day.

Haemorrhage

Deserted streets

Survived the past 24 hours of prednesone withdrawal. It was getting bad towards the evening but the missile strike on Jerusalem was a timely distraction. Later in the evening I decided to take a walk out to the Ramadan Bazaar at Damascus Gate. The streets are all lighted up but there was hardly a crowd in the streets. Because of the kidnap and murder of 3 israeli teenagers and the revenge killing of an arab boy ... all muslims from Palestine are forbidden to enter Israel ... which effectively means they cannot come to the Al Aqsa Mosque to pray during Ramadan. Then of course the missile war between Gaza and Israel has made things worse. The result is an empty Old City. Two thirds of the annual Ramadan crowds cannot come to Jerusalem and the missiles are keeping the local muslims indoors. It's been a very sad Ramadan so far.

There were 5 missile strikes into Jerusalem yesterday evening at 6pm. No major destruction as 2 were intercepted by Iron Dome Defense rockets. They were blown out from the sky before they land. Israelis run for cover while arabs celebrate outdoors that the enemy is being struck.

Sugarcane juice

The area around my eyes are hemorrhaging ... and I don't know why. Looking like a panda. The nose bleed has reduced but still clotting up the nostrils. I think maybe an ice-pack would help. Have been staying in my room with windows closed as I my eyes are sensitive to light. Perhaps its the heat that's causing the haemorrhaging. It's stifling here in Jerusalem. I didn't sleep last night because of this, so I sat out on the terrace till early this morning. Maybe that's the cause of the haemorrhage. Or it could be stress ... because I'm absolutely stressed here in Jerusalem. Have already started on a series of work even though I don't feel up to it. Anyway right now I'm dying for a big cup of sugarcane juice. Maybe that could solve my haemorrhaging eyes. I noticed a proliferation of sugarcane juice stalls in the streets ... nice in this hot weather but very expensive. It costs US$10 for a cup.

More missiles

The Ramadan canon explodes each morning at 3.30am and again at 8.15pm to announce the start and end of fasting. The heat is dreadful and you can imagine how fasting is like under such conditions ... especially when you even have to spit saliva out. Really tough Ramadan this year.

Missile alert sirens blared out at 6pm this evening. 5 explosions were heard. The news say they exploded north of Jerusalem in Maale Adumim neighbourhood. 2 were intercepted by Iron Dome rockets though. The situation has become crazy. Gazan rockets now reach as far north as Haifa and as far south as Dimona where Israel's nuclear reactor is.  Everyone is jittery.

A good laugh to get over my
medical side-effects

Been feeling depressed ... it's the withdrawal symptoms of Prednesone. Finished the 12 day course yesterday and as expected, the side-effects start kicking in today. I simply hate taking prednesone because of this ... but to prevent a major crisis during the operation, the docs insisted I started a course of this dreadful medicine. Hope I can survive the next 24 hours as it gets worse. Perhaps a couple mofre missile attacks could distract me.

And talk about distraction, this picture of the 2 popes have become viral: the World Cup final between Argentina (Pope Francis) and Germany (Pope Benedict).

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.