A little normalcy

The past few days have been so hectic with work ... and the heat has not helped. It's just rushing from one place to another trying to get jobs done. And I'm wondering why this is called summer vacation. I'm working more than on a normal working day.

The 3 day truce in Gaza was good. There was alot more calm and normalcy. In fact generally speaking things have gone alot better this weekend. I don't think people even thought of the war today. Only sign that there's still a war far away are the empty streets. Hardly any tourist groups except the chinese ones.

Marigolds bloom

Ah Ling prepared chicken herbal soup yesterday evening so I went over to eat. But I've realised how easily tired I get. Even the thought of walking 1.2km to Mandarin's is enough to put me off. My feet still hurt and I've been having dreadful stomach cramps and diarrhea. Just don't feel like going anywhere but sleep in bed. One nice thing about staying at home is I get to see my marigolds blooming in profusion. They enjoy the heat but I must water them every morning so they don't wither.

Day of calm

Mr. Bird takes a shower

A day of relative calm as the truce continued to hold up. Still there was a military presence in the Old City and muslims still not allowed to enter the Al Aqsa Mosque. There was a group of women sitting outside Bab Hutta lamenting.

Another morning of crazy work ... rushing from one place to another with the engineer so as to co-ordinate with other technical offices regarding the electrical and internet wiring of 4 storeys of our library. Am utterly exhausted.

The diarrhea and nausea have reduced alot today. Was a little shaken to find out its also the symptoms of Ebola. Everyone laughed when I said that .... but well ... we've had several groups from West Africa here, coughing right into my face. Anyway am feeling better than yesterday. But the feet still hurt very much.

Hide-and-seek on
the lemon tree

Had a few minutes of fun with Mr. Bird today. I've not had mush time with him these weeks since the operation. Gave him his usual morning bath which is him sitting next to the tap while I splash running water over him. He prefers this to dunking himself in a bowl of water. Then for a special treat I let him play on the lemon tree. It was a brief but enjoyable moment.

Explosion in neighbour's house

This morning there was a loud explosion nearby and I thought it was due to the violence in the Al Aqsa mosque. Later I learnt it was a domestic explosion in a neighbour's house ... possibly a gas leak. All 3 of his children were dead ... 1 yr, 2 yrs and 7 yrs old. Horrible. His wife was badly injured. The funeral was due this evening but as everyone waited in the street in front of our house, we got news that they'd bring the body to Palestine where most of the family were living. Everyone was feeling terrible.

A barrage of rockets from Gaza prior to the 72 hour truce was fired toward Israel this morning ... one hit a house in Bethlehem. Luckily no one was hurt. There were also scuffles in the AlAqsa Mosque. And when I got home from work, our road was blocked by many border police armed with stun grenades and guns. Apparently arabs had been throwing stones at jews walking to the Wailing Wall.

It's Tisha B'Av today ... a day of mourning for most jews. It commemorates the destruction of the Jewish Temple twice on the same day ... the Solomonic temple in 587 BC by the Babylonians and the Herodian temple in 70 AD by the Romans. Most jews fast on this day. And the rabbinic explanation of this destruction? "Baseless hatred of jews for each other". A nation torn apart. An imploded society.

Good home food for lunch

I've been very sick since last night. Nausea and diarrhea. Very bad diarrhea. But I still had to work. The good sisters were very kind and cooked white rice, okra (ladies fingers) and fried string beans. It was good to eat some hot food for lunch ... but I couldn't hold it in. Am still feeling very ill.

Violence

A day filled with violence in Jerusalem. At 4pm we received news that a bulldozer had killed one israeli and overturned a bus in the City. It was something like the series of bulldozer attacks 4 years ago. Then within an hour we got news that motorcyclists shot an israeli soldier near the Hebrew University. Word then began to spread around that in Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood jews had attacked an arab in revenge, then an arab stabbed a jew on the Mt. of Olives. The last two have not been verified but word in the streets is just so. Now in the news we hear a car packed with bombs was thwarted from entering Jerusalem by a soldier jumping into the car and forcing the driver to stop.

And this morning there was again demonstrations by muslim women forbidden from entering the Al Aqsa mosque by israeli soldiers. Some got beaten up.

All I can say it, it sounds like another Intifada.

Lovely lunch

I had to work the whole day and at one point could not go home because of the rioting in the Damascus Gate area. The sisters of Mother Teresa could not go home and got stones thrown at them when they tried. They came back to my workplace and told me not to go home as i live in their area. I went instead to have lunch with 2 old friends - Diana and Sr. Natalie. Nice simple food: Diana had salmon sandwich, Sr. Natalie had camembert sandwich and I had a quiche. It was the only nice thing that happened today. My head and feet still hurt and I have to remember to take my painkillers.

Protests on Sunday

Less headaches today ... but that's because I'm taking optalgin (painkiller). It's not a good thing though because optalgin ruins the stomach. But I don' care right now ... just need to stop the headaches. Been having diarrhea for 2 days too. What a dreadful weekend.

Haredim protests

The country is terribly torn by the Gaza war. They're the Jewish and arab leftists who're against the war ... the Jewish and arab rightists who're for it ... the ultra-orthodox jews who're against it, the conservative jews who're for it .... This morning I saw a group of ultra-orthodox jews - known as "haredim" demonstrating against the war, praying, chanting, shouting at soldiers and police. Then a conservative pro-war jew carrying the Israeli flag crossed the road to the ultra-orthodox to provoke them. What a clash! The ultra-orthodox hooted and jeered and some started physically attacking the guy. The soldiers stepped in to protect him. That was a sure testimony how divided the jews are regarding this war.

Protesting muslim women
chased by police

Earlier in the morning at 7am, muslim women below 50 yrs were forbidden to enter the Al Aqsa Mosque - just like the men. They started protesting at Bab Ghawarmina which is directly opposite Ecce Homo ... about 3 metres from our house. Soldiers came to chase them away down to Bab Hutta (St. Anne's Church / Sheeps' Pool) ...
and the women moved, chanting protests.

I've had my share of headaches ... so I just close my eyes when these things happen ... and try to sleep.

St. Mary of the Angels

Ethiopic Rite Mass

Dreadful thumping headache ... but now I think I know why: I've not been wearing my prescription spectacles for a month now and maybe my eyes have been straining alot hence the headaches. But I can't wear glasses yet for another month ... the wounds inside the nose are still not healed and the glasses would add pressure to it. Tried taking some Acamol (panadol) to go to sleep. I can breathe so much better now but the stitches are still inside several places in the nasal cavities ... and they hurt when I sleep on one side ... or sometimes doing nothing at all ... it just hurts. You can imagine the pain fo tough nylon wires poking at your sensitive nasal lining deep inside the head. It hurts ... and causes headaches too.

Yesterday was another visit to the doctor. No missiles shot along the way so it was very calm. Both feet have been hurting alot. In fact so much I can hardly walk. Don't know what's wrong. So instead of travelling another 70 km back home and walking another 1 km, I decided to pass the night at my Jaffa community. It was so good to be able to sleep without the chaos and violence outside my window. Only thing that kept me awake was the headache.

Tasty oven-baked bread

The morning was great as it was different ,,, no muezzin chanting you awake at 3.45am. I took a slow walk downhill to the bakery and bought some bread for the community ... fresh from the oven. The sunrise was beautiful and there was no one in the streets. The sea breeze was warm and birds were singing in the trees. Only thing that spoilt it was my painful feet. But since it was the Feast of St. Mary of the Angels, it was worth the walk to buy the bread for a nice breakfast with the community.

Later in the morning there was an Ethiopic Rite Mass which I just had to photograph and film. It was hauntingly beautiful. Fr. Medhin the celebrant wanted me to concelebrate but I turned it down ... the Mass lasts for 2 and a half hours and I don't think my feet are up to it.

Cease fire

It's 3.30am. Have been up for half an hour already. Can't sleep .... I've a headache and a sore throat. Hope it's not Ebola ... we've had several groups of Sierra Leoneans and Camerooneans these few days. They cough and spit right in front of your face. Absolutely awful.

Ah Ling's herbal tea to calm
abd strengthen me

I think maybe I know why I can't sleep. The night before, there was a fight between 2 groups of youths right in front of our door. I heard the initial commotion - which was a loud argument - and went to the terrace to look down. Within minutes there was a fistfight and that spread up to the Armenian Catholic Church, ie the 3rd and 4th Stations of the Cross. I had a bad feeling some of my friends were involved. Earlier that day they told me about guys coming to our Quarter carrying knives and causing trouble. I guess I was pretty worried for my friends. And I was right. Yesterday evening I met my best friend who had a bandaged arm. Didn't see the other guys. Probably suffered bigger injuries. I think that is still upsetting me. It's such a violent neighbourhood ... and all these young people who have no education or work, know only violence.

Ceasefire at last in Gaza. This time it ought to last for 72 hours. Hopefully Gaza will get the medical aid it requires to treat the thousands of injured. The worst thing about this war for us outside Gaza is to face friends on both sides of the divide. They expect you to take their sides and that is difficult as no one is right, no one is wrong. But no one wants to hear that. So you end up losing more friends in the process.