Arbor Day

My potted anemones in bloom

Tu B'Shvat is Arbor Day for the jews ... the new year of the trees. It started this evening and will end tomorrow evening. That's practically the beginning of Spring. The trees are bursting with buds ... new leaves and many start with blossoms instead of leaves. Another sure sign that Spring has come is the blossoming of the ubiquitous red anemones. They're an incredible sight from far away ... especially in the fields and deserts that suddenly bloom overnight after the rains. The Chinese New Year which heralds the Spring is in 2 weeks time ... well I guess because it's heavy snow in the Far East so Spring comes a little later.

White rice dinner

Usually Arbor Day is celebrated with walks in the nature reserves and picnics in the parks ... enjoying the blossoms. But the dark grey rain clouds and cold - it was 6 degrees today - was very discouraging. So it's partying indoors tonight ... or in the pubs.

Well in this gloomy cold evening I just wanted so much to eat some hot white rice ... but I don't want to wash up in the icy cold water ... so the alternative was to go out and buy it. A good 2km walk to the Sushia mini-restaurant at the corner of Hillel Street. But it was well worth it. Nice hot white rice with some fried beef. Well I guess it was some sort of comfort food as I really needed something to fill up after a very stressful day. The library fire alarm broke down and was wailing all morning. The students who were studying for the exams were disturbed and the profs were obviously angry and of course I had to solve the problem ... like the elevator breaking down as well. It was a mad rush looking up for contracts and guarantees and countless phone calls ... while trying to calm the students and profs. Well most of it is solved and this evening I really deserved this hot dinner ... eaten alone in my office with no one to disturb me.

Back to the mass deportation of african asylum seekers, nobody wants to do the job so the govt. is on a big recruitment drive to hire anyone to do it. It's like bounty hunting.  http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Interior-Ministry-to-pay-civilians-9000-bonus-to-deport-African-refugees-540110

Even the lawmakers got into a fight at the parliament (Knesset) over the deportation issue.   https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-israel-s-interior-minister-third-country-will-accept-african-asylum-s-1.5769852

And we're getting a warning of a major water crisis this year despite the rain we had last week.   https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/business/israel-is-getting-closer-to-a-severe-water-crisis-1.5769555

Grey and gloomy

New Gate: re-pavement work

It's almost the end of January. Time flies. In a couple of weeks it will be Lent. And the fasts and abstinences will start .... well we actually abstain on Wednesdays and Fridays all through the year anyway. The weather seems to fit well with the Lent atmosphere. It's been grey and gloomy all day. Drizzle all day as well. Many people are feeling sick ... headaches, nausea and general listlessness. That's probably because the air pressure has changed ... it's very low pressure now and that affects the body. Nevertheless work continues ... and everyone tries their best under such conditions. New Gate was closed because work was underway to repave the road. But the workers were lethargic.

Municipality Square: no more palms

What a shock for many of us ... the beautiful palm trees at Municipality Square were all chopped off overnight. They had been cordoned off for over a month now. And then they're gone. Apparently there's a beetle that's becoming a plague to palm trees throughout Israel, killing the trees from the core. The trees then collapse and people walking below are injured. The palm plantations in Jericho are in danger of being closed down because of this plague. It's quite a crisis in the agricultural sector and scientists are looking for a means to stop these pests.

An Israeli jew has been arrested for a sting of attacks on arabs ... the latest being a car ramming. Well it's a good sign that at least the police are arresting israelis. It'll help to show that justice is practiced. But whether he will be charged and whether he will serve time is another matter.  https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/israeli-settler-suspected-of-targeting-palestinians-in-attacks-1.5770538

Tomorrow is the jewish New Year of Trees (Arbor Day) or Tu B'Shvat. I doubt there'll be picnics in the park if this gloomy weather continues.

Winter is ending

The first almond
blossoms

It's Sunday again. Today I had to preside the liturgy at the Armenian Catholic church at the 3rd Station. The congregation was a little larger than usual ... about 20 people. Several pilgrims and the rest are local armenians. It's not a very big community of armenian catholics but many have gone to other churches because there has been no resident armenian priest for a very long time. We had an armenian franciscan, Fr. Talatinian, who helped out on Sundays for many years but he died at the age of 103 several years ago. Since then an armenian priest comes occasionally from Rome to celebrate the major feast days. For the rest of the year it's up to 2 of us to preside the liturgy ... and I am the only one who knows a little armenian to do parts of the Mass in that language.

Kitten on a sill

3 degrees again last night and this morning. Even people from eastern Europe say it's cold. AT noon it was 10 degrees and should feel a lot more warmer ... but because the sun is shaded by dark rain clouds, it feels as cold as 3 degrees. The ground is also wet. I saw a kitten sitting way up a windowsill  of a pharmacy to stay dry. Not exactly a cat on a hot tin roof ... rather a kitten on a cold wet sill.

I saw the first almond blossoms just outside the Old City ... in the abandoned lot below Notre Dame Centre. That's a sure sign Spring is coming ... the almond tree always blossoms in the last weeks of winter and the Joshua tree blossoms in the first weeks of Spring.

Not everything is so cheery though. We've had 2 "price tag" (revenge) attacks by jews on arab property south of Jerusalem. It's a frightening escalation of confrontational violence, tit-for-tat attacks which we saw as starters to an intifada.  http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Jerusalem-hit-with-second-Price-Tag-attack-in-2-weeks-539965

So the cold will continue for the next few days. The Municipality has issued guidelines to follow in case of bad weather. That's very helpful as many foreigners and locals don't know what to do or who to contact. They also have guidelines in case of earthquakes.  http://www.janglo.net/index.php?option=com_adsmanager&page=display&catid=99&tid=435596&utm_content=buffer09b3b&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Am already dreading having to wake up at 3am for class in 2 degree weather. I'll be frozen. Can I have a better start to the week?

Feast of Allegra

At our chapel today

It was cold this morning .... 3 degrees and the highest it got was 9 degrees just for a few hours at noon. Drizzled all day. But the wind is the main culprit ... it was freezing cold. No snow though. It seems the cold will continue through the weekend.

Today we celebrated the feast of Blessed Gabriele Allegra ... on the 27th instead of the 26th because it clashed with the feast of Sts. Timothy and Titus. I had to very quickly arrange the altar by myself as Sr. Philomena fell and fractured her leg and is in hospital. Srs. Ancita and Clara were therefore taking her place in the kitchen and no one was there to help me in the sacristy. Kept it simple and everyone liked it. We're minimalists here ... so the simpler the better. Mass was celebrated as usual and the chinese priests and sisters all came to join in despite the cold and rain at 6.30am. After Mass we had the veneration of the relic. Everyone was satisfied and happy that it went well.

Being Sabbath, there's not much news coming out locally. However I've been receiving news of the situation in Damascus which is getting bad. The rebels have been targeting churches and monasteries ... bombing as many as they can. The sisters who were distributing food to the people hiding in the ruins were shot at. No one was hurt. The Greek Catholic bishop also escaped unhurt when his residence was bombed. The war there is far from over.

Today is World Holocaust Day. We remember all those killed unjustly and cruelly. Besides the 6 million jews, there were also gypsies, christians, africans and other minorities who were killed. And we don't seem to learn from history as war rages all around our region. We say "Never Again" but when will we actually act on it?

No snow

Cold, wet and windy at Damascus Gate

Once again the morning began bright and sunny though very very cold. It was only 3 degrees. And it hovered around there for the rest of the day. The dark storm clouds continued to blow past us toward Jordan because the winds were too strong. So we didn't get any snow ... though it rained heavily at times. Tel Aviv was and is flooded by the storm. It's in the coastal lowlands so it gets rain and flooded easily. Jerusalem is high up in the mountains so we rarely get both. Videos of inundated buses in Tel Aviv are going viral. The drainage system there is able to cope with this sudden burst of rain. Too many years of drought has made people forget what winter is, so it comes as a shock to the system. There is snow though in Upper Galilee and the Golan Heights. Now that's what winter used to be like 25 years ago. Well I for one am happy it didn't snow. I dread having to shovel it from the terraces. It's backbreaking work and I do it all by myself.     http://www.jerusalemonline.com/news/in-israel/local/watch-northern-israel-painted-white-with-snow-33926

Palm Plaza today

Meantime exams have started at our school today while almost all the other schools have just completed their exams and are closing for the semester break. We're always 3 weeks behind all other schools because we start the school year later than others. That makes synchronizing timetables and teaching schedules with other schools quite a problem. Let's hope there'll be some changes soon.

Tomorrow we'll celebrate the memorial fo Blessed Gabriel Allegra. It'll be our usual conventual Mass and I doubt the other chinese religious will come because of the cold and rain.

Conversion of Paul

Deceptive sunny morning today

The storm has arrived as forecast ... though the morning gave us the bluff. It was sunny though cold. But after noon, the dark clouds gathered and the winds picked up speed and by 6pm heavy rain bashed down on us. There was even hail which caused a dreadful noise as they pelted the zinc awnings all along the streets. I had just finished confessions and eucharistic adoration at M. Teresa's convent when I found out I wasn't prepared for the weather. I only had a hoodie jacket which was not woollen and a beanie. I was really cold and the nuns lent me an umbrella to keep at least the upper body dry. From the knees down I was soaking wet when I got home. By the way, I got a little surprise at the door of the convent when I arrived.

Surprise welcome
at the convent door

It's presently 6 degrees and will fall to 4 by midnight. Tomorrow it will drop to 2 degrees and we're expecting snow. I probably won't go to work at the other library as I don't feel like walking through the sludge. And I'm just hoping the strong winds will not blow down our jasmine and bougainvillea creepers. They're 2 storeys high and cling to the retaining wall in the courtyard. News just in: the heavy downpour has flooded many part of central Israel as its drainage system is not capable of handling so much rain. Snow has fallen not only on Mt. Harmon but also in the lower regions.

Meantime today is the feast of St. Paul's conversion. Personally I feel it's more the conversion of Ananias than Paul. We have 2 students called Paul - one from Africa and one from India. So for lunch we had 2 cakes which they cut after the main dish. One of the cakes was chocolate (with no nuts) so I took a piece and enjoyed it very much.

Here are some pictures of the Palestinian strike yesterday. I wonder if tomorrow the palestinians will riot ... in the storm. I doubt so. The weather is a prime element in the dynamics of violence.   http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/In-pictures-Palestinians-protest-Pences-visit-with-closed-shops-empty-streets-539537

And the news is now showing Trump threatening the palestinians to talk peace with Israel or he will cut off financial aid. How very disgusting ... he thinks money can buy everything ... even people's dignity and freedom. He is the epitome of crass capitalism and materialism ... where the american god is money. Mark my words ... the day will come when life will teach him a lesson he will live to regret.

Winter Hot Pot

Hotpot at Mian

The skies turned very grey and the winds are picking up in speed. The forecast is sleet, graupel and snow on Friday ... and it certainly looks like it from today's weather turnaround that snow will come. I only hope it lasts for a day or two ... and not too heavy. I don't want to shovel snow from the roof. It drizzled all night and for the past 2 nights I've forgotten to turn on my heaters. Woke up just after midnight shivering and wondering why it's so cold. My memory is going fast. I think it's the lack of potassium and magnesium again that's causing my lost of memory and inability to focus. Or it's early dementia and I'll walk out one day and don't know my way home again.

Last night the owners of Mian restaurant, Billy and Linda, invited me over for a winter hotpot. It was very nice and fitting for a cold wet winter's night. We ate and chatted until 11pm. The food was as traditional as it could be ... being in Israel we can't get every original ingredient. But it was delicious.

Lentil soup today

The Chinese New Year is in 3 weeks time ... and we asians here in Jerusalem are few. But we hope we can meet up at least for the Reunion Dinner and perhaps a thanksgiving Mass. We'll have to synchronise our timetables so that on Feb. 15, we'll be all free to meet.

For your information, it's Wednesday today. That means abstinence ... which instead of saying no meat, it's more of "lentil and fish" day. Today the cook put fettuccine in the lentil soup. I ate none of it. But I was so hungry I ate a piece of fish ... which I usually never do because it's never ever fully cooked - the centre is always raw. Well I got sick after that. It's definitely a day of penance ... which as you know is twice a week for us - Wednesdays and Fridays. Lentils and fettuccine will definitely not be in the Reunion Dinner menu.

The forced repatriation of refugees saga continues as newspaper comment how a State like Israel, founded by jewish refugees, can expel other refugees ... forgetting it's own past and principles.  http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/a-state-founded-by-refugees-does-not-expel-refugees/

And a big uproar today after the american VP's visit to the Wailing Wall. Some reporters were segregated from the men, and put in the women's part of the plaza separated by a low wall. The women journalists were infuriated and there's been a barrage of condemnation and even a lawsuit against the ultra-orthodox monopoly over the Wall.  https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/female-journalists-kept-from-male-colleagues-at-pence-s-kotel-visit-1.5762141

To my students of the Book of Revelation .. apologies I couldn't find a good video on the book. I'll continue searching.