Recovering

Nostalgia for the Ivrea convent chapel

I slept relatively well last night. The pain got quite bad at midnight ... and I realised the effects of the painkillers wear off after 8 hours so I'm timing myself every 7 hours to take them so there will be no window for the effects to wear off.

Drinking cold soup for breakfast is not a nice thing. My stomach hurts from hunger ... and the cold soup makes the stomach even worse. Then there's yoghurt ... which makes me have diarrhoea. But there's nothing else I can eat so that's the only choice I have. I am hungry and feeling very faint. Anyway I am nauseous all the time so eating makes me feel sick ... though I'm so hungry all the time. What a dreadful struggle ...hungry to eat but nauseous when eating.

... And in the national news, the Palestinian Authorities have reiterated  the ban for arabs to sell property to jewish Israelis. This is the ongoing But it won't work ... money is more attractive and I believe in the next 20 yrs one quarter of area properties in East Jerusalem will be sold to jews.  https://www.thattheworldmayknow.com/herods-family

Meantime Syrian president Assad's assault on a refugee camp will kill thousands of innocent people. It's a dreadful prospect that has occurred in many other towns and villages.  https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/syria/syrian-refugees-face-starvation-as-russia-and-assad-try-to-force-u-s-out-1.6550517

Op over

Operation done. One hour 45 minutes of surgery ... a little more complicated than anticipated, but the 2 surgeons kept telling me it's successful. Well I knew something didn't go quite right when there was blood all over my protective apron which the nurse was wiping with hydroxide, and my hands and face and neck ... when I got out of sedation. One of the docs admitted that there was an accident but they managed to save the situation. Leo our seminarian who accompanied me later told me there was panic for over 5 mins as the surgeons and nurses were running about to get instruments etc... I'd rather not know the details. Anyway the bone was transplanted and anchored by 2 pieces of metal. In all it took 9 injections, 5 x-rays to complete the procedure. Now I need to sleep ... no solid foods for 3 days ... and lots of rest. Thanks to everyone for their prayers and well wishes.

Winter is almost here

** Talking about hacking ... the day before there were 20 views of my blog, yesterday 118. How to explain the big difference?

Stromata

Palm Plaza at night

Today is all rush ... last minute attempt to finish all my work, meetings, signing documents ... before my operation tomorrow morning. But the more I seem to complete, the more work arrive ... till I finally decided enough is enough, I was going home. Then once home, another series of work started ... fax lines that don't function, orders and payments ... I walked out of the office and into my room. The work will never end, people's demands will never stop ... no one will die if work is not finished. I need time for myself and to prepare for tomorrow.

Night police

I hope to take a week off to rest after the operation ... and then almost immediately I'll have lectures at the university. Good thing I prepared the reading materials and have sent them out to the students to prepare.

The uproar over the sale of an arab house to rightwing jewish settlers have blown out into headlines in all arab newspapers, local and regional. Apparently things are more serious than I first thought ... it wasn't simply a small pharmacy with upstairs rooms that were bought by the settlers ... it was the property of the Joudeh family ... an illustrious arab dynasty from the Crusader period who hold the keys of the Holy Sepulchre. Arabs are shocked that such an ancient and esteemed family would sell their property to israelis. Well things are not as simple as that. They sought the help of a middleman who sold it to some Caribbean company which ... surprise ... was owned by rightwing jewish settlers. Anyway the storm is still brewing and we'll see what'll happen next.   https://www.haaretz.com/.premium-news-of-jews-taking-over-e-jlm-house-spur-palestinian-media-uproar-1.6535139

Meantime Gaza is getting some respite when Israel allowed fuel to enter Gaza ... which the Palestinian Authority is against. Part of the Israeli blockade is actually Palestinian blockade since they sanctioned the Israelis to stop fuel, medicine, food and other essentials into Gaza in order to force the ruling Hamas party to vanquish power. Like I once said, the arabs worse enemies are themselves.  https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/palestinians/defying-abbas-israel-allows-qatari-funded-fuel-into-gaza-strip-1.6545230

2 days to D-day

Another grey cloudy day

2 more days and it'll be my operation. I'm a little nervous this time. They found a bone donor that matches my blood type so the hospital called to say I must have it done as early as 8am on Thursday. We'll see what happens from there. I'll be on antibiotics a day ahead of the operation to pre-empt an infection and rejection of the donor bone. Then the next few days will be a nightmare of pain and fever.

Well today I tried to finish all I possibly could, settle all the problems and meetings before the operation. Looks like an impossible task. So whatever will be, will be. I can't solve all the problems. Others must learn to do their part in problem solving as well.

Cold cat on a crate

Winter is definitely approaching. Last night was 18 degrees and it felt really chilly. The sky was still cloudy and grey today ... with a cold wind blowing. I hope it won't rain on the day of my operation. I don't want to have to walk in the rain looking for transport home. Anyway at 5am the ground must be cold because I noticed a lot of cats are staying as high as possible from the ground.

Meantime it's another day of clashes when some 5000 gazans protested near the border with Israel while a flotilla of gazan boats tried to enter Israeli waters. It was a land and sea attack to break the Israeli blockade because Gaza is not getting food, medicine, water and other daily necessities. The people are dying in there ... and their govt under Hamas is making things worse than is.   https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5366713,00.html

Grey skies

Cloudy grey skies today

The weather has gone all cloudy and cold today. It feels like autumn again. In fact we're expecting lots of rain as forecast ... but the clouds don't seem to be giving us any. It's keeping us in suspense.

Tourists have suddenly returned this week and our streets are again blocked by hundreds of groups walking down the ay of the Cross. I guess hotels are cheaper now that the jewish holidays are over. But muslim pilgrims have also increased a lot. The ban on Indonesian groups by Israel must have been lifted because christian and muslim Indonesian groups are everywhere in the Old City. However a collateral war is being waged by Israeli tour guides against christian pilgrim guides. They have gone to court to stop the latter from guiding because it undercuts their income and religious guides are ill-educated and lower the quality of tourism. Yes I agree there are some religious guides who know nothing and talk a lot of nonsense ... but so are some Israeli guides. They mock our religion, spread lies and make tons of money through shopping commissions. They don't like christians ... they like christian money.

Jaffa Gate crowded with tourists

And like I said previously, something fishy is happening in my blog. My stats report one day 18 views and another day 1600 views. Sure smells fishy ... like it's being hacked. My FB, and emails have all been hacked several times so I'm not surprised. But why me?

Tensions are rising in the Palestinian Territories as Israeli soldiers arrest the family of the murderer in yesterday's attack. Arabs are protesting and fighting back. This tit-for-tat game will not end. More jewish settlers now will burn arab olive groves during this harvest season. And the cycle of violence rolls on. What a miserable winter it will be.

Sunday surprises

Sunrise over Damascus Gate

It's Sunday and though theoretically I could wake up late, I went to the other library at 5am because I needed an Armenian bible. I have 2  armenian seminarians helping me this morning for the Mass and they can do the readings in armenian. It was a nice quiet walk up the hill. Muslims were gathering to enter the Old City for their morning prayers ... israeli soldiers have taken up their posts at the City Gates and vital street corners ... but still it remained very quiet, The sunrise over Damascus Gate is surreal ... the colors look as if they were photoshopped. Anyway the Mass went very well despite the lack of practice. The seminarians are identical twins and they drew alot of amazed reactions from the congregation. They managed to respond and recite and sing parts of the Mass in armenian while I prayed the silent prayers. I hope they'll be able to come more often to help. The armenian congregation were very happy to see armenian clergy again and chatted with them long after Mass ended. The twins were also very pleased to come into contact with armenian catholics again.

Mini-car inside Damascus Gate

And just at the top of the stairs inside Damascus Gate I saw a very very small car ... for one person. It was so small it could navigate the narrow ramps and parked near the pharmacy. I thought that was very nifty ... wish I could get one. It would save me from the walks to and from work twice a day.  

This morning started with a terrorist attack in a West Bank industrial compound. 2 israelis killed and the murderer is still at large.I doubt this is part of a larger terrorist movement ... it sounds more like a disgruntled employee. Anyway tonight will definitely see israeli soldiers raiding the arab village and arresting the perpetrator's family and relatives.  https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-suspect-in-shooting-still-armed-at-large-special-forces-searching-area/

Then yesterday at the northern border, druze from israel gathered to show support for Assad. The rebels and ISIS have persecuted and killed many druze in Syria and their relatives in Israel are ready to enter Syria and fight. Things are getting tense.  https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Golan-Druze-gather-at-border-chanting-loyalty-to-Syrias-Assad-568781

And still up at the north, an arsonist set fire and killed hundreds of chickens at a farm. Dreadful. A million dollars worth of livestock was lost.   https://www.timesofisrael.com/50000-chickens-burned-alive-in-suspected-arson-attack/

End of mission

Ancient olive trees at the park

Today was my last day to say Mass at the Ivrea convent. A total of 104 days flat I've walked 1km at 5.30am to the convent ... for the whole of summer. It was fun in a way ... the 3 old nuns singing out of tune, the large breakfast of fruit, yoghurt, coffee and milk, 3 types of cheese and bread rolls, the 2 bakeries nearby churning out pitta for sale, the 3 dogs that roam the park ... I will miss all that.

Fat cat in the Park

The walks to the convent is really amazing at 5.30am. From July at the height of summer to now autumn in October, I've seen the sun rising later, the streets get quieter and the hot dry weather turning cold. I stop at Rockefeller Park for a breather every morning because my asthma and coughing spasms prevent me from walking all the way. In the Park, there are a dozen ancient olive trees ... and in the early morning cold, the strong thick smell of olives are incredibly beautiful. The warm damp air reminds me of all the summers I have spent here. Then there is the troop of cats that scavenge the trash left by the arabs the night before ... all over the park. The sprinklers suddenly shoot up and spray torrents of water at the dying grass and the cats scatter. It gets funny every morning watching them ... and the cats don't seem to learn.  

Well ... I don't have to go back to Ivrea convent till 3 months later. So for now, I get to rest ... theoretically. School begins on Monday so I have to prepare the library staff for the new academic semester. I have the armenian Mass tomorrow morning but I have little time to practice with the organist and our 2 new armenian seminarians.  We'll have to play by ear tomorrow.

Meantime at our southern border, 20,000 gazans protested at the Israeli border yesterday. 126 wounded and one 12 yr old was killed, so say report. The Old City is tense with police stopping many passing arabs for identification.   https://www.ynetnews.com/articlesnc/0,7340,L-5364482,00.html