Come!

 The Custos of the Holy Land welcomes you

Tourists

 As the weather stabilizes into summer mode, people are also getting used to the heat. Violent incidents are significantly less and let's hope it stays that way. Tourist groups are coming by the thousands now. Our streets are full of foreigners. And they bring illnesses. The spike in Covid and gastric influenza has reached a daily rate of over 10,000. The Health Ministry is telling people to wear masks when indoors but nobody is bothering. Well, it may be a case of too little, too late. Regrets will be useless. In fact the Ministry has already said that this is the 6th wave of Covid.

At Cana chapel

Among the thousands of daily tourists is a filipino family who came to visit. Parents with 4 kids. I brought them around the Old City on the 1st day, but my health isn't up to it so for the rest of the week I got other filipino friars to help out. They went to Cana and renewed the marriage vows during Mass there. Fr Carlos from Tel Aviv presided the Mass. There were many fun things to do with the kids as they learned more about their faith. And they drew and coloured books on Bible stories. The Ministry of Tourism is aiming for 4 million tourists by August. Thats mainly to boost the economic.

I'm still recovering from gastric flu. I thought I was getting better yesterday and then I vomited last night. I think it's not quite over yet. Still I have classes to teach and lots of paper work to follow up. Hope by tomorrow all will be dealt with so I can sleep on Sunday ... or see the doctor.

Kids have fun

Kids in the public fountain

 Gastric flu is everywhere. Over a dozen in the monastery where I work. I was down with it myself. 3 days of fever and vomiting and diarrhea. I was very weak but not as bad as some who had to be hooked up to a drip. Still it made me very ill and I could hardly sleep or walk about. I was just at the pharmacy to buy medicines for the MC sisters in Bethlehem when the pharmacist told me to take probiotics. I bought a bottle and took one pill already. Then I was told to bring lots of water.

Meantime daily Covid infections have gone up to over 10,000. Serious cases requiring hospitalization have also risen sharply. I'm wearing my mask all the time, and people make nasty remarks, even among priests who caught Covid and spread it to others. Abominable.

The weather is at a stable 30 degrees during the day and a cool 22 degrees at night with a lovely breeze. I had to work very hard yesterday and today despite my gastric flu, running around different places in the City to get visas done for sisters who are coming to work here. They're from France and India so they need to be done in different offices. I can only walk slowly as my legs and hips are giving me trouble. But I do my job ... though it's not my responsibility. The relevant superiors are too lazy and indifferent to do it. I'm really doing a favour. 

Well it's so hot during the day, kids from the neighbourhood are playing in the public fountains. Adults look enviously as they too would like to join in. Though it's illegal to play in the fountains and the police statio n is literally 2 metres away from it, the police close an eye and let the poor children play. They can't afford to go to summer camps with swimming pools, and unable to travel to Tel Aviv to enjoy the beach; so this is their only way to play in a body of water. I hope they'll continue to enjoy throughout this summer ... with no more violence in the streets.

SIck

Syro-Malabar procession

 Again several days have gone since I updated my blog. I've been a little sick the past days ... with a fever and nausea and vomiting. Tested myself 3 times for Covid and am negative. Still I'll continue testing because Covid is spreading rapidly here. Yesterday there were over 10,000 infections with a rising number of serious cases that need hospitalization. The Health Ministry is telling people to wear the mask again, though it's not yet a law. 

The fever and nausea have been keeping me awake. Not that there's many hours of sleep. It's summer and the sun rises very early. And the muezzin starts singing even earlier at 2.30am (3.30am solar time). People are telling me it's probably a bug that I caught. Maybe I should go to the doctor's. Mind you, my breathing is a lot better with not sign of asthma like before. So it doesn't sound like Covid.

Sunrise 4.30am

Last Friday and Saturday I was busy with Mass celebrations and processions in Tel Aviv with the Indian communities for the feasts of St. Anthony and Corpus Christi. The Syro-Malabar rite indians celebrated St. Anthony's feast and I was asked to carry the statue in procession, dressed in the Syro-Malabar rite vestments. The crowd was huge and there were no windows in the hall, so I was afraid I caught Covid there. The next day, Saturday, I had Mass with the Konkani community which was also very crowded. Chances of my catching the virus was great. Hence my fear when I developed a fever when I came home.

The amount of medicines I'm taking is making my hands and feet swollen. Walking is even more difficult now. But if I don't walk, the water retention would only get worse. So I try my best to walk at least 2 kms a day ... to and from work. Just hope I don't vomit along the way.

Too much

Full moon

 It's been 31 degrees and above the past few days. The sun is scorching. But the nights are very cool and breezy. The muezzin starts singing the call to prayer at 3.30am (2.30am legal time) and it was noticeably louder these past nights ... perhaps because of the tensions around the City. A lot more arabs from around the country are flocking into the Old City for weekend prayers these weeks ... a reaction to the Jews entering the Al Aqsa mosque compound. By 4am the compound is full of young and old praying.

This morning was a mad house. I had so many things going on at the same time, it was out of control. 2 phone calls at the same time, a team of conservators and restorers to study the state of some of our antique books and a visiting professor from the University who wanted to see our books. Then another call to help a seminarian change money, another message to say someone is leaving old clothes with me for the poor, another series of messages asking if I have a place in the car to bring them to Tel Aviv tonight for the solemn Mass at 8pm, then the chinese sisters calling to ask if I can find rooms for them in Tel Aviv tonight because they want to join in the Mass there too, two workers came to ask me to bring them to a convent where they must do repairs, booking the car to bring us to Tel Aviv for the Mass, looking for another car for tomorrow to bring us back ...... it's one of those days where things are totally out of control.  I'm too old to handle this stress.

Cherries

Anyway it's preparation time for Mass in Tel Aviv. I'm exhausted so I need to rest a little before the solemn Mass there.

One consolation after all this stress ... I got lots of fruit to eat! Mini-apricots and cherries! Grapes also! And vanilla ice cream! Weekend will be great with these summer fruit!

Feast

Full red moon on the right

 Today my worker is in hospital so I have to stay in the office the whole of the opening hours, opening and closing the library because it's still exam time and students need to use the library. 

Last night the full moon was out ... so very large and red. It shone through my window and kept the room alight. It was very nice but I don't have a good camera so the photos are blurry. The moon is enormous and red. Amazing. I thought the blood moon phenomenon was over, but it isn't.

Great home food

Last night the chinese sisters cooked up a great dinner and invited our Custos, the vicar and the economo over. Their term of office is almost over and we wanted to thank them for their help all these years. The food was really professionally done ... restaurant level. There was my favourite cold noodles, fried beansprouts, dumplings and lots of other stuff. We ate alot.

It's Corpus Christi today. There was a solemn Mass at the Holy Sepulchre and every other church is holding its own celebrations. It's the last feast before the Transfiguration in August. But by then most of our guys will be away for their home leave so the feast is much less crowded than it should be.

Processions

Procession of St. Anthony

 I must be tired. I can't remember words or things for the past day. For the past 3 nights I've slept only 3 hours each because I've had too much to do. The old brains are giving up. 

Monday evening I had gone to Tel Aviv to the migrant chapel to concelebrate the feast of St. Anthony for the Konkani community. There wee many worshippers, and the little children wore Franciscan habits as a sign of consecration to St. Anthony. There was a public procession around the block with police escort, followed by Mass in English and Konkani. There were 4 deacons and 8 priests and the sanctuary was small and the chapel had no windows so it was very hot and stifling. The Mass ended at 10pm and when I reached the bus station, there was no one and no bus. It was scary. The station is famous for drug addicts, thieves and lots of violence. I called the deacons for help and they can to accompany me back to Jerusalem by train. It was my first time and I didn't know where the station was. Neither did they. We needed a Filipina parishioner to bring us there.

Little Anthonies

When I reached home, having to take the tram as well, it was already midnight. And I hadn't eaten anything all day. It was past 1.30am when I actually to sleep but by 4am I had to be up for work and meetings. I was feeling very light-headed and nauseous all morning. So at 3pm I decided to go home to rest. Simply too much activities. I'll have to recoup my energy because this Friday there'll be another procession and Mass for the Malayam community in the night and Saturday morning I have Mass for the Konkanis. All in Tel Aviv far away.

There was no drizzle as predicted. instead the heat has come back ... over 28 degrees. I must remember to drink lots of water to stay hydrated otherwise I'll be fainting.