Snow and rain

Rain at Damascus Gate

What a storm last night!! And it continues to rain even now at noon time. The sky is grey and cloudy and it is freezing cold. 3 degrees. However the Metereological Station says there'll be no snow in Jerusalem .... it's there's snow blizzard up north in Galilee. The streets in the Old City are very slippery and yesterday on my way home I nearly fell twice. It's dangerous walking in the streets now and much as I want to stay at home, there was work to do in the other library ... payments, bookings etc. for my volunteers coming this year. Logistic work is very demanding. It means going from one office to another, printing documents, and with this rain ... it makes the job much more difficult.

I have class this afternoon and then Mass at the Ivrea convent at 5pm. Not looking forward to going out in this rain but there're responsibilities to fulfil. My bronchitis is much better but I've caught a cold with running nose and fever. Everyone at home calls me the perpetual sick man ... if it's not one thing, it's another.

1st AFC of the year

AFC dinner last night

The weather continues to plummet .... snow blizzards in the north, heavy showers in the central plains ... and here in Jerusalem it's like 3 degrees at noon time. It'll get colder tomorrow. And I don't look forward to it. I might just stay indoors all day.

Last night during the distribution of our protector saints, we were having dinner at the same time. It was a great dinner except it was all pork and I don't eat pork. Well not absolutely ... sometimes (rarely) I eat bacon or ham but definitely not pork chops and such. So I was pretty hungry by 9pm. Luckily I had a hunch dinner would be pork (which is very expensive because pork is not kosher in this country and difficult to buy) so I bought an AFC pack (Arab Fried Chicken)  of 2 chicken pieces, chips, bun, coleslaw and garlic mayonnaise with a can of coke (all for 35 shekels). That was my first AFC this year. Yummy.

Flags in the gusty winds

This morning I cleared up the Christmas decorations from our refectory (= dining room) ... alone ... like I set it up a alone last week. It was minimalistic ... the decorations ... very simple but nice. And clearing up was easy. Then I had to travel to Bethlehem and transport 11 bags of clothes and daily items to the MC sisters. The cold is affecting many poor families who can't afford heating or clothes or food to keep warm.   

The traffic in and out of Bethlehem is heavy because tour groups are still coming to visit during this Christmas season. But soon this will trickle as the cold and dark envelope us in a few weeks and we enter the depths of winter. Then the low season of tourism hits us ... and the Chinese New Year comes.

Protector Saint

My 2019 card

Tonight we received our protector saints for 2019. It's usually done on the feast of Epiphany over a game of tombola / bingo and prizes are won, then we are given our patron saints and virtue to inculcate and soul to pray for. Nowadays we have done away with the tomb/bingo and the money used to buy the prizes are given to the poor instead. We all receive a small simple gift ( a cross) and our cards are read out to the community.

My protector saint for 2019 is St. James of the Marches, a franciscan saint whose feast day is November 28. My virtue to inculcate is discretion. The departed soul that I must pray for is Fr. Polycarp Angelisanti, our roman friar who guided many pilgrim groups when I was a student here 28 years ago.

Freezing cold walk to say Mass

The weather has turned so cold with snow storms in the north and even blizzards. The central plains were flooded with heavy rain and Tel Aviv was covered in hail stones. Only Jerusalem didn't have any rain though it is freezing cold ... 2 degrees this morning. The winds are gusty and the sun peeked out from the clouds once in a while. Everyone is wrapped in layers of wool and for the most part, stayed at home. Some shops didn't even open. I had to celebrate Mass at the Convent of Ivrea in an arab village 1km away from the Old City at 5pm. The sky was already dark and the icy winds cut through the air. People were huddling along shop walls and scampering quickly to their destinations. The walk home after Mass was even colder. I couldn't wait to rush home and stay in my heated room.   https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5442503,00.html?fbclid=IwAR0SEKYtm2cx_kMESbrCh3DWJDxHdXTSP4urs87tllxct6eawpI0MlGXYdQ

Epiphany

Cold and cloudy day

There is a monstrous cold wind blowing outside ... and it's gusty like a storm. The temp report says it's 9 degrees but it actually feels like 3 degrees. Freezing! Everyone is in thick clothing and scampering in the streets. It's too cold to walk. 

I guess it's right for Epiphany to be this cold ... or orthodox Christmas. I heard there was a clash at the entrance of the Basilica  of the Nativity. Arab orthodox christians were protesting against the Greek Orthodox Patriarch as he entered the Basilica because he was selling church property to jews. Palestinian police came to his rescue and beat up the arabs. Don't know the outcome. Will be waiting for updates.

Pastries at Roladin Cafe are
so tempting

On such a cold and gusty day like today ... nothing is better than staying indoors drinking a hot drink and eating lots of pastries. I really like that. This morning our cook baked potato and cheese burekas (puff pastries) which were a great treat for Epiphany. Our sisters as usual boil eggs for Sunday morning. And there's Christmas Panettone and Pan d'Oro which we all love to eat ... bread with dried fruit or bread with icing. We're so lucky to have all these ... when I think of the christians in Iraq or Syria ... I feel guilty. I wish I could do more for them. Luckily this morning a group of protestant pilgrims came to meet me and donated money and clothes and food to the poor ... 7 sacks in all. I hope to bring them Bethlehem or Nablus one day this week.   

One headlines in local news is the arrest of jewish terrorists suspected of killing an arab woman. A 5th suspect was arrested but it drew riots and protests from jews. Apparently jewish terrorists are not terrorists and should not be arrested. Only other races are terrorists.   https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Shin-Bet-arrests-fifth-minor-suspected-of-participation-in-Jewish-terror-576423?fbclid=IwAR1GUTEUdRRKTdckSDjIls3JinT-KoEgOWVQF50K8WBWJOiifiRLmkPOeTo

And the Justice Minister encouraged the mother of one of these suspects ... apparently the Minister also thinks it's ok to be a jewish terrorist ... https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-stay-strong-israeli-justice-minister-calls-mother-of-jewish-terror-suspect-1.6807695?fbclid=IwAR3oAZcMi-I4kvuy1zRw9yLDpC3Nyc2FXGZ6n_-uQMmg8bNi8Xj0vc9xqLE

Double Christmas

Armenian Orthodox
Patriarch today

Christmas seems to be soon over with the Feast of Epiphany tomorrow. But not entirely because tomorrow the Orthodox Churches celebrate Christmas. So schools close for 2 weeks so that the 2 Christmasses can be celebrated equally and without discrimination. But non-christians get confused by the 2 Christmasses. It's because the Western churches use the Gregorian Calendar and the Orthodox churches use the Julian calendar which is about 10 days late.

The Armenian Orthodox Church celebrates the feast of St. James the Just, first bishop of Jerusalem and brother of the Lord. Their cathedral is built over the tomb of St. James - he is not one of the apostles, namely James the brother of John  or James Thaddeus but the relative of Jesus who took over the leadership of the Church in Jerusalem as mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles.

This week I was inundated with curry. I had this urge for curry so I cooked some chicken curry ... Singaporean style. Then Bro. Leo cooked some indian style curry with ghee rice and gave them to me. Then the day after, Mian restaurant gave me thai style curry with rice. So I've been curries everyday all week. Too much of a good thing.

Curry and ghee rice

Some bad news for Palestinians and non-Jewish landowners ... the Israeli Army confiscates swarths of land in order to use them for military practice. It's not like there's not enough land .... there are thousands of dunks of desert in the south but the plan seems to be that after military use, the land would be converted to jewish settlements. https://www.haaretz.com/.premium-idf-exiles-palestinian-families-from-their-homes-to-train-in-their-fields-1.6807086?fbclid=IwAR3o4s7QaJp5I0IiD0QW7t8SkFPUM0IHWnPAk9tzipzmQokdgYpnXB_ohkc

And the Jewish implosion continuous as state-funded religious schools refuse to accept black jewish children. It's pure flat racism ... and if it occurred in any other school, it would be anti-semitism. But it's jewish schools so it's ok ... well keep watching this spot, because there'll be protests from the black jewish community soon.  https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5440141,00.html?fbclid=IwAR2QKAwEw1HrVUF0JhNfDveaw7OKNBjUNDUkcTQi-BhzgmbtPRolzFMxAgA

Op. cancelled

Monster dog on
board the bus

Yesterday I left early at 5am to the hospital in Tel Aviv for my surgery. Had been fasting since the previous night. But once in the medical room the doc tested me and said I still have bronchitis so they won't risk giving me anaesthesia. So now my operation is postponed to March 12. The agony of having to wait again.

Anyway the weather was extremely cold ... even in Tel Aviv. It was the first time I've seen Tel Avivians dressed in woollen jackets, hoodies and boots ... exactly how Jerusalemites wear in winter. Jerusalem is usually 5 degrees colder than Tel Aviv. And there was a huge Ridgeback-Mastiff cross dog in the minibus going to Tel Aviv which I took. It was a monster dog and a couple of muslim men got off the bus as they were afraid of the dog. Actually it was very friendly. We were stroking it and joking with its owner. The dog practically slept all the way to Tel Aviv .... and it was free of charge too!

Tel Avivians dressed
for winter

I came home just after lunch time and ate some leftover food from the fridge. Had the worse case of diarrhoea ever. So I had to rest a couple of hours before I went for adoration and confessions at the MC sisters convent. Then I had a long talk with the MC provincial who reported the situation in Gaza, Syria, Iraq and Yemen. It was horrific. The christian communities are under so much hardship. It's credible how they kept their faith despite all the murderous persecution.

I had a very good sleep despite the extreme cold. Then it was back to work ... first the university library then the General Library ... with lots of bills to be paid, rushing from the Finance Dept. to the Printery and then a meeting with the Custos. Good Bro. Leo cooked rice and curry for me so at noontime I brought the packed food home and ate it. No fears of diarrhoea this time.

I'll have to organise some work this afternoon and hopefully I had go to sleep early. Winter is hibernation time ... I like it.

Sahlab season

My 1st sahlab this winter

The weather has been bene fantabulous today .... hahahaha that's a new word I learned today. Pretty fun to use it. The weather remains around 10 degrees but the sun is shining and wind is still cold. But what made it feel so specially winter was my first sahlab this season. That's the traditional turkish winter drink made from orchid root, milk, rose syrup and cinnamon. It was nice to drink this warm delicious beverage on a cold day like today.

It must be cold because Buddy and Chilli snuggle under my pillow when I go out. Caught them several times when I came back to my room and saw they climbing out from under the pillows and flying back to their perch. Poor boys ... for Chilli it's his first winter.

Sun breaking through the clouds

The 2nd day of 2019 ... work has resumed slowly. Students return to the library to prepare for the exams. The tempo is slowly picking up again after the Christmas celebrations. For some students this will be their final semester before to their countries for ordination. Another generation of students graduate, another generation of new students will start their adventure. The cycle continues, the wheel continues to turn.

I am due for another operation tomorrow. It shouldn't be anything major but still I have a bad feeling about. The last time the anesthesia was playing with my breathing and heart ... it did not feel good.