Peaceful Rosh haShana

New chic supermarket on
the jewish side of Jerusalem

Rosh haShana on Friday and Saturday passed without any incident. Military presence was heavy but no rioting or scuffles were recorded. So it was peaceful for us ... a rare event during these High Holy Days. We'll have to see how Yom Kippur will pass. It'll start on sunset Oct. 3rd and end on sunset Oct. 4th. It's a day of solemn reflection, fasting and prayer. Unfortunately it falls on the feast of St. Francis (Oct 4th) so we can't go out and enjoy. All our celebrations will be held indoors so as not to injure the religious sensitivities of the Jews. But the muslims start their Eid el Adha on sunset of Oct 4th and ends on Oct 5th sunset. It's the feast of Abraham willing to sacrifice Ishmael (not Isaac).

I'm totally wrecked by bronchitis. It's at its peak now, and it also triggers asthma. So I'm having a very dreadful time. Hardly sleeping at all due to the coughing and suffocation. But the medicine I'm taking is very very strong. Knocks me out for 4 hours ... so that's the time I actually sleep. I can't take it during the day as I need to work. Yes there's no sick leave here. You have to work even if you're sick. And my feet hurt so much I can only hobble. But its sporadic. Sometimes I can walk perfectly well. And diarrhea is less these 2 days.

I understand Hong Kong is going through some upheaval. I can understand the fear and consternation when there are massive demonstrating crowds confronting tear gas and military offensives. It's very common here in our country though ... so I can empathise. Let's hope cool heads and reason take over from emotions.

Natural splash of colours in the open
 market on arab side of Jerusalem

Jerusalem is undergoing lots of changes ... new buildings and shops everywhere. My usual Sunday 5 km walk was leisurely because of my bronchitis and feet problems. One thing I noticed was how markets are organised on the Jewish and Arab sides of the City. A new supermarket was opened in Shotar Square in front of Mandarin Restaurant. Upscale place, very chic ... and hence costly. Everything wrapped, well advertised in colourful packages and lighting, and organized on the shelves. Then in the arab side, things are still being sold in the streets in a splash of natural colours, haphazard, prices are negotiated. Both are appealing ... reflective of their cultures.

Bronchitis

Morning in Jaffa

Today was very quiet. No clashes, no riots. Police presence was still heavy but life went on as usual. The Mosque remained closed to muslims while many jews converged to the Wailing Wall to pray on the 1st Day of the New Year - Rosh haShana. Tomorrow however is Friday and if the Mosque continues to be closed, I think there might be more than scuffles. Let's see.

I was hoping to spend the New Year at my other community in Jaffa ... by the sea. But I have class tomorrow and the internet line is not strong in Jaffa. So I'm stuck in Jerusalem. And on a Friday ... with potential clashes between muslims and jews. Can't say I look forward to it.

Sunset on the same site

I'm down with severe bronchitis. Lost my voice. So I don't know how I can teach tomorrow. The chest pain and coughing is dreadful. I can't sleep. And there's a fever as well. Am taking medicine for this but it makes me very drowsy. Still work is work so I have to trudge on.

Students are coming back from the summer vacation. Most schools have started. While all israeli schools are closed - in fact everything is closed - the arab side of Jerusalem continues as usual. School, markets, transportation ... are all running on routine. It's such a strange country when 2 systems are running parallel. It takes quite some time to get to used to it.

Clashes

Muslim women outside
Ecce Homo protesting the
closure of the Mosque

Rioting in our Quarter this morning for some 3 hours. Apparently some jews entered the Al Aqsa esplanade but since it was the eve of Rosh haShana, muslims fear the jew will try (again) to tear down their mosque and rebuild the Temple, so stones were thrown, israeli soldiers fired stun grenades and tear gas ... and  full blown clash enveloped our Quarter. Running battles along our street. We had to close our library windows as grenades were fired directly below.

The Mosque was closed to everyone and muslims were protesting in the streets. As Rosh haShana lasts till Friday evening, I think the Mosque will be closed throughout this time. There's going to be some heated encounters in the streets these few days.

That will make life difficult for me as I need to go out to work. If our street becomes a battle ground, then I'll be locked in. And tear gas will be blowing in. And I'm allergic to it ... and my window faces directly the street. Not good news.

Rosh haShana food

Not going to work doesn't mean that I'll be lazing around at home. Today I managed to correct a 40 page article. Very tiring to the eyes. But it was just as well I stayed home in the afternoon (I went to work in the morning despite the clashes), because I'm suffering from severe diarrhea again. Dreadful cramps that make me double up in pain. And my feet continue to hurt so bad I've been hobbling for 2 days now. Perhaps a little Rosh haShana food will cheer me up. it's customary to eat honey cakes and apples dipped in honey ... a sweet start to the New Year. Pomegranates are also traditional ... they symbolise abundance. Ironically we're experiencing clashes on the New Year ... perhaps things might calm down and everyone's lives get sweeten up this year. Our New Year wish? No more wars.

Break

Soldiers at Bab Hutta in
our quiet street

Managed to squeeze a short break last weekend to rest in my other community in Jaffa. It's always nice to get away from Jerusalem - away from the racial and religious tensions which seem to be growing this week. That's probably because the Jewish New Year is this Friday, followed by Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) a week later, and then the 8 day Feast of Sukkot (Tabernacles / Tents) the following week. Police and soldiers have stepped up their presence since yesterday. They're expecting trouble ... as they do every year this time. And rightly so. Usually jews will try to enter the Al Aqsa Mosque area and symbolically try to pull down the mosque in order to rebuild the Temple. This inevitably will lead to muslims throwing stones and israeli soldiers firing back in retaliation. Then the riots will spill out of the mosque esplanade into our streets. Happens every year.

Fresh sea breeze in the morning

Anyway a couple of days by the sea is good. No air pollution so I can breathe better. And I get an appetite ... so I do eat 2 meals a day ... hot meals at that. And talking about hot food ... the doctors think they know why I'm suffering from diarrhea most of the time. I probably caught an infection after the operation but because I eat cold leftovers, it caused the bacteria to continue spreading in the tummy thus the diarrhea. The docs fear this may lead to stomach cancer. I really don't know ... just that it's too troublesome to warm up cold leftovers at midnight when I have some time to eat. Maybe I should stop eating all together. And my feet still hurt and the docs continue to tell me to go to a podiatrist.

An ethiopic bride striking
a pose for me

Back to seaside ... a morning walk down to the bakery is pleasant. Warm salty sea breeze, several people jogging or riding bikes or swimming. In the afternoon, lots of couples taking wedding photos in the garden opposite our church. Jews, muslims and christians come to this scenic spot when Pharoah Ramses II built a triumphant gateway some 3000 years ago.

Then on Sunday it's back to work as usual. All through to today. Despite the short break, I'm already feeling tired again. Some fo the shopkeepers opposite our house tell me to slow down ... it appears that I'm burning out ... again. Well let's hope I can spend Rosh haShana this Friday back by the sea again.

Mr. Bird

Mr. Bird loves the news

Mr. Bird was in my room again after a long time. I haven't had the time to play with him and left him with the cockatiel in the large cage out in the courtyard for several months now. He's become quite aggressive so I thought a little TLC was in place. He was very happy to be in my room ... especially when he gets to watch the news from the Internet. He's fascinated by colours and moving objects.

Kohinoor

Kohinoor entrance

All I can say is I'm so happy to have my Israeli security friends. They bring alot of normalcy to an otherwise crazy world. And they say the same about me. The feeling is mutual. Yesterday several of the old guys were back and we had a good time chatting. Today Yogi was back ... haven't seen him in a month as he was off in Eilat for holidays. It was very good to chat with them. The usual banter and crazy jokes. Actually they are the ones who call me down to be with them.

Biryani and okra masala

Dor and Guy love indian food ... they spent a month in India before joining the security team. So I went to Kohinoor's new outlet last night to try out the food and let them know. I ordered vegetable biryani with okra (ladies' fingers) masala. The portions were large. And the food was good ... given that there is no other indian restaurant around town to compete. Prices were similar to other restaurants ... like Mandarin's. But the portions are the selling point. Well I'm no longer tolerant of spicy food so it's unlikely I'll be a regular here. But it was good to eat some Asian food again besides chinese. Sakura the japanese restaurant and the korean restaurant have all closed so there's little choice for asian cuisine.

Alot of work and hence stress again. Hardly been sleeping. I have some 400 pages to edit. And thousands of books to catalogue. And my feet still hurt .... it's going to be a heavy week ....

Mahane Yehuda wet market

All kinds of Halva at the
Mahane Yehuda wet market

Mondays are always nightmare days. it's not only the first day of the week, it's also when I have to get up at 3am (solar time) for classes. Immediately after that is work. I finished my morning routine of jobs by 2pm and walked home. I thought I had an hour or so to rest but I realised I had classes tomorrow ... that meant preparing handouts. Then the security friends called me down to chat ... some had had a bad time with the boss after yesterday's evaluation of their performance. So I went down to chat and chill ... so that some of the upset guys could feel less bad. Popped by the neighbourhood doc to check on my pressure and sugar level as well. Still high.

All kinds of olives

Yesterday I decided to take a long slow stroll at the Mahane Yehuda wet market. It was very interesting  as always. And much more enjoyable as there was no rush or hassle. So much interesting food on sale ... Mahane Yehuda wet market is primarily jewish kosher but being local, there're also arabic food on sale. It's not cheap but not any more expensive than supermarkets or shops. I wanted to buy some papayas but none were available. Apparently they're sold only in Tel Aviv. I'll need to go there to buy some. Will be quite an expensive papaya ... with a 75 km journey included. Not worth the while.

Here are some photos of the wet market.

Sacks of spices

The covered wet market

Fresh fish