4th day of CNY

Ben Yehuda Mall

Despite the tension in the air, today Friday passed off without major incidents. The weather had suddenly turned very sunny and the rains have stopped. But the wind continues to be very cold. Forecast is rain again tomorrow. Well I hope  tomorrow's rain will not prevent me from going to work. I have Mass at the Holy Sepulchre and then an hour's class and then meeting up with some people on the library projects. It will be a busy day.

Despite the cold, people are enjoying dinners in restaurants and walks in the City. It's special ... before the heat of summer overtakes us. The last bit of winter fun. Purim the jewish feast commemorating the book of Esther will soon come round ... the first Spring feast. It'll fall on March 21. The weather is always warm for that feast.

A chinese exchange student form the U. of Haifa came to wish me a Happy New Year today. Travelled over 200 kms to Jerusalem for this. He's from an old catholic family ... very traditional. I met his parents last year when they came on pilgrimage. Nice simple folk. And it was very nice of the student to come all the way. I brought him out to lunch before he had to go back to Haifa immediately because the Sabbath was setting in and all public transport would have stopped.

3rd day CNY

Storm clouds over the Mt. of Olives

It rained all night again and drizzled all day. It's wonderful of course ... we need the rain. But I'm not ready for the wet slippery streets. Walking outdoors is a health hazard. I'm scared of falling and breaking a bone ... at my age I don't heal easily. Anyway it's the final swipe of winter before Spring totally takes over. Problem is Spring here lasts only a week or two. I see from the weekly weather forecast that tomorrow Friday will be sunny but the next 4 days will be wet and rainy.

Old City in the rain

These 2 days of rain has caused the southern desert to be flooded. There 's a video that's going viral showing how the desert is overrun by sudden flash floods and rivers. Such a lovely sight that the parched tortured desert is now quenching its thirst after a 15 year drought. Wild flowers will suddenly push out from the ground in a few days ... those rare sweetly scented flowers that spring up and bloom for only a few hours, perhaps a day ... and then it dies. A very fleeting existence. And many desert insects will also breed, lay eggs, grow into larvae and then adulthood before dying ... all within a few days while the rains last.    https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5459558,00.html?fbclid=IwAR2UNQLegMDAFVlko05HDIJI6ao8LZ6KZ5MkyYBBSgvM-4d9N0lf9pAUVoo

The giant supermarket chain Supersol is in big trouble because one of it's outsourced delivery vans was caught on camera transporting a dead body from hospital. Imagine having your groceries kept with a cadaver .... and the van has NO air-conditioning. It's definitely not kosher and Supersol will be hit bad not just by the ultra-orthodox jews but by any decent person who cares for hygiene. People will and are avoiding the chain. Better safe than sorry.  https://www.timesofisrael.com/supermarket-delivery-van-caught-transporting-dead-body/?fbclid=IwAR1pZ2Ij1nd_GwDflaGKJp9QyE46QiBVRjOVUBNgTuWU7aZqz6ornf28Alw

2nd day CNY

Municipality Square today

It rained last night ... quite unexpected. The warm weather we were enjoying just dropped down to 6 degrees again. And this morning it continued to drizzle till sunrise. Very chilly. I had to wear a thick hoodie to go to work. Just received tonight's forecast ... rains will start again at 7pm and progressively get harder till midnight. Oh my ... I'll stay warm in my room and not go even to get a glass of water.

Jerusalem City was like any other working day. After almost 3 decades overseas ... I just wished one New Year's Day I would wake up and see the city in festive decorations, New Year songs blaring and greetings at every street corner. I actually tuned in to asian tv to watch chinese programmes and concerts for the New Year.

A lovely bouquet
for CNY

I had to work as usual. But thank goodness the bank and lawyer and payment drama is over ... well almost. Then I had to go trough some Coptic manuscripts I discovered in our library deposit. A team of experts has come so I'm letting them study it and write up a descriptive catalogue. After that it's writing a report because the Custos is coming for a canonical visitation next week.

A witch hunt is ongoing in some cities. A mayor has actually asked citizens to report illegal immigrants so they may be arrested and deported. Immigrants mean robberies, danger, drugs .... sounds like he took the cue from Trump. The irony is that the city is Petah Tikva, the first jewish settlement at the turn of the century when jews began immigrating from Europe.     https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-israeli-mayor-asks-residents-to-report-asylum-seekers-to-remove-them-1.6900768?fbclid=IwAR3pICA2DESGqLH0uUvMtCQ9f9_XfUxDAdy8LsjpOKknYHGEP17cYd2jrBc

Yesterday there was a terrorist attempt in the north of the country. 2 arabs threw explosive devices but one was shot dead by soldiers.  https://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/Two-Palestinians-throw-explosive-at-IDF-soldiers-one-terrorist-killed-579662?fbclid=IwAR3IDWRnm0dsKkpE09Xr_jKh9zQXF3xWYw_DJbyC5yapMtfsyur2c9odmxY

Happy New Year

Fai Chun at my door

Yesterday was New Year's Eve and I was extremely busy with all the bureaucratic redcap of getting invoices paid, bank transfers etc... for books ordered by the libraries. It was traumatic as each time I need lawyers to help me out. Yes ... it is that complicated and thank God your system is alot less stressful. Yesterday was a full 4 hours of waiting and phone calls before things worked out.

Reunion dinner

In the evening we had the Reunion Dinner at Mandarin Restaurant as we always do every year. There were 16 of us from Singapore, Taiwan, Australia, Canada and China. It was good to be able to share the dinner and celebrate the New Year. Ah Ling slow-boiled chicken soup, and we had the usual noodles and rice, dumplings, lots of veggies. We all enjoyed it and especially when we could all meet up at least once a year. Usually our timetables are uncoordinated and we are seldom all together for monthly meetings. Anyway I was feeling unwell and very tired so luckily we ended early and I went home to sleep.

My altar

Morning came with a beautiful golden sunshine ... and lovely start to the New Year. Well the rest of Israel went on as usual. It was difficult for me to tell my jewish friends it's the year of the pig/boar as it's an unclean animal. But most of my jewish friends accepted it and laughed, without getting offended. I had to get back to more bank bureaucracy and paperwork which ended at 1pm ... another 4 hours. And there were any bills to be paid ... which is a no-no on the 1st day of the year ... but I had to get them done. Managed to stop by the asian restaurant "Thailandi" to order 4 noodle takeaways. My arab friend was working there as well as the thai cook this morning so it was good to see them ... and they gave me a bigger share with an extra Springroll. They are always so generous to me. Well I gave 2 packs to our library staff for lunch and another 2 packs to our Curia staff. They all enjoyed it.

I was hoping to rest in the afternoon but more calls to work. So here I am at 8.45pm in my office. Exhausted. Am going home to sleep.

Nablus day off

Nablus knaffeh is the country's best

The last Sunday of the Chinese Lunar year ... and we're all looking forward t our Reunion Dinner on Monday evening. I think there'll be 16 or 17 of us ... the largest group so far in these recent years.

This morning I had to travel back to Nablus in Samaria to celebrate Mass for the MC sisters. The ride was surprisingly smooth ... only one hour to reach there. Usually the traffic at the border from Israel to Palestine is clogged and would take hours to pass. And the road was relatively empty. I had to bring 5 bags of used clothes and 8 boxes of canned food to the sisters for distribution among the poor in the neighbouring cities of Jenin, Zebabdeh, Tubas and Ramallah. It was heavy work loading them and unloading the donations.

Curry, rice and
chutney lunch

After Mass the sisters cooked a lovely curry lunch with chicken and beef and veggies ... plus their fabulous mango chutney. It's really very good and when I had my previous operations and lost my appetite, it was the chutney with rice that kept me going. And by the way ... any one coming to the Holy Land? Please bring green/unripe mangoes so the sisters can make more chutney. It's very difficult to buy unripe mangoes here. Then the sisters bought knaffeh, an arab dessert made from several types of cheese steamed in honey or sugar. Nablus is famous for the best knaffeh in the country. It was fantastic but because of the pistachios which I think I'm allergic to, I could dare eat more than one.

Locally there was an attempted stabbing in Hebron. And Israel went ahead to build a high metal fence to cut off Gaza infiltrators. Other than that, it was a quiet Sunday. Let's hope it remains so for the rest of the week.

Presentation feast

Crowds outside Damascus Gate

It's the feast of the Presentation ... and the Church celebrates religious and consecrated persons. Jerusalem based religious gathered at our St. Saviour monastery with our bishops and they had a small prayer service in our courtyard before proceeding to the parish church for solemn Mass. I would have preferred it to be celebrated at the ancient Temple steps south of the Temple Mount where it actually took place: where Mary brought the baby Jesus to be offered in the Temple and where Simeon and Anna met them and prophesied to them.

The weather continues to be bright and shiny ... which means summer will be nice and hot. But the winds are still cold. Almond trees are blooming wildly ... and it's a spectacular sight. More people are out today ... Sabbath ... because of the weather and the Old City was very crowded with local jews and arabs. Tourists though are lessening ... which is typical of February. There were no extraordinary security measures. What a relief!!

Inside Damascus
Gate

I am sure the air in Jerusalem is very polluted because once I'm out of the City, my wheezing and coughing stops. Maybe it's time for me to move out.

No remarkable news from the northern or southern border. That's good news. It would make celebrating the Chinese New Year a lot more joyful. As usual the chinese religious and priests will gather for a reunion dinner but this year we won't celebrate a Mass on the New Year as most of us are too busy with work. For some it will be the first New Year away from home.

Tomorrow I have to go back to Nablus to celebrate Mass as the nuns there have no priest. The parish priest is away on retreat and the nuns didn't have Mass almost all week. Also I have a lot of canned food and clothes donated by many people for the poor. They amount to over 15 boxes and sacks. I'll need someone to help me carry them.

Nablus day out

Crusader church in El Bireh

This morning I had early Mass in the Empty Tomb. Then I had to go to Nablus in Samaria to celebrate Mass for the M. Teresa's convent. Thats a long way north ... like and hour and a half of car ride through wilderness. But before reaching Nablus, just after crossing the border to Palestine ... I decided to stop by at the Crusader church ruins at the village of El Bireh. That's the place which recalls Mary and Joseph meeting and discovering that they lost the boy Jesus. Almost everyone has forgotten about this church which is a terrible pity. I make it a point to go there on my way to Nablus and say a prayer among the ruins.

Fresh air in Nablus

At Nablus I celebrated the Mass and had a simple lunch there before going home. All in all it took 5 hours for the trip there. And I am exhausted. My back is sore from all the sitting. But the air was fresh and I had no trouble breathing up in the Samaria mountains. It was a good outing. I probably will be back there next week as I have a lot of clothes donated by the parishioners of Jaffa and a whole load of food donated by a protestant church, which I have to give the sisters there.

I managed to come home early as well so I could rest a bit. Haven't had time to check the news .... after a nice day out I guess I'm not ready for bad news. One think though that bothered me from yesterday: Israel has the highest use of pesticide in its products in the world ... fruit, veggies .... That explains my asthma and allergies with food here.   https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5455284,00.html?fbclid=IwAR2aWP8LQ8VVJn-wWtBoHqsrbQvuyz3Ar0Tu36Ylh3uG5ZqyRpFth1_9m_M