Crisis

Chaplains and the nuncio

Another week has passed. It's been a tiring week as there was a lot of work to do. And events to attend. Yesterday for example was the International Day for Migrants and Asylum Seekers. The annual event sees all the various groups and chaplaincies come and celebrate Mass. I think yesterday there were about over 1000 Indians, filipinos, africans, Vietnamese, Ethiopians, Ukrainians, Romanians and other nationalities present. The nuncio celebrated the Mass with the chaplains and assistant chaplains. They also came from different rites: byzantine, geez, syro-malabar as well as Latin. Each one offered something in the liturgy: a prayer, a song or hymn and also to the refreshments after the Mass.

This evening Yom Kippur begins. Tensions are high and I think the borders will be closed. Public transport has stopped. But the Arab side is still open though. However I'm in a dilemma. Just received news that one of our migrant workers is seriously injured in Ashdod and is in ICU. I need to go and see him but there is no transport there. Also I'm not sure they'll let me see him, depending on his situation. And because it's Kippur, I guess the hospital is down to a skeleton staff. I'll have to be posted on his progress if I am to go down to Ashdod. It is quite far in the south. And it's next to Gaza which has upped its attacks on Israel with fire balloons for the past day. Let's pray for the best. This is a bad crisis situation at a wrong time and place.

Autumn harvest

It's Friday. Another weekend. The streets are very crowded today because muslims are coming to pray in the Al Aqsa mosque while Jews are preparing for Yom Kippur with prayers at the Wailing Wall. It makes going out or coming back home quite tedious as you have to squeeze and push your way through.

Police enforce strict security checks at every corner. The coming feasts of Yom Kippur and Sukkot are making everyone jittery as violence continue throughout the country.

Putting those thoughts aside ... the autumn harvest is in full swing. Lots of grapes and dates and pomegranates. Also peaches and plums. And the locally planted guavas and pineapples are also plentiful. What is missing is custard apple. There used to be alot of them in the market but this year no shop is selling them. Strange. Come to think of it ... lychees are also rare this year. Maybe no one's buying them so the farmers stopped producing.

Back

Damp, humid skies

It's been some days since I updated the blog. Busy week and I'm trying to adapt my work schedule with my changing health situation. I reach a point where I just cannot continue and totally shut down. Things just have to wait. Well I'm back on the blog. My mind is still a little foggy. Been confusing the days.

The summer holidays are almost over. Many schools have already started but higher institutes and universities begin later in October. Some profs who return yesterday said I aged a lot during these past 3 months of summer. Well, I feel it too. 

We discussed the crazy weather in Europe and here. We had 2 extreme heatwaves and a rainstorm in August. That is totally beyond human memory. This week it's been very humid and damp. The ground is wet with heavy dew every morning and a chilly wind blows in the evenings. People are actually wearing hoodies and jackets. That's a sure sign winter is on its way. Nevertheless we're all wary for this coming winter now. Yesterday newspapers warn of heavy rains. I rather like that. And snow of course in January. It would be a nice break from the heatwaves we've had.

Police stop and search
arab youth

The jewish New Year has just passed and it'll be Yom Kippur next week 24th. Tensions are high. Police in the newspapers call on israelis to carry guns. More stop-and-search taking place in and around the Old City. I dread when our streets are closed off and curfews imposed, impeding our movement. It's quite unfair on us.

Anyway everyone is saying 2023 is almost over. Just 3 more months. Let's hope they pass without incident. We've had too much meteorological upheavel this year. We don't need other disturbances to upset our daily lives.

Monti fest

Our Maria Bambina sisters
at Mass

The weather has cooled alot ... by some 5 degrees during the day. It's now around 28 degrees at daytime. But the nights are just about the same temp. And very humid. I've not been able to sleep at night because of the heat. 

Last Saturday our Jerusalem Konkani community celebrated their Monti Feast (summer harvest + birth of Mary) in a grand style. Their bishop of Mangalore came and celebrated Mass with the Tel Aviv community, the Haifa community and the Jerusalem community. I think there're about 40,000 konkanis in Israel working as caregivers. I often help out whenever they have a shortage of priests. 

Monti fest lunch: vegetarian

I couldn't join them for Mass and procession this year because I had the Ethiopic Mass at the same time. It's the ethiopic New Year so I had to celebrate the feast for them. However I did manage to get back in time for the cultural programme and lunch with the bishop and other konkani religious of Jerusalem. There were our Maria Bambina (Baby Mary) sisters, who celebrated their patron feast day (Nativity of Mary, hence baby Mary). 

Konkanis after Mass

Lunch was a celebration of the summer harvest. It's vegetarian and the parishioners cooked the dishes themselves. I love vegetarian food. It was very well made.

So my weekend was very busy with all these ethnic celebrations. My left eye is affected by cataract and it's bothering my sight. It's terrible irritating and I keep rubbing my eye, but it does not go away. Vision in the left eye is 70%.  Because of the double blood-thinners that I'm taking, the eye specialists can't do a cataract op on me until my cardiologist is consulted. It gets complicated from here on.

Socks and foxes

Utter confusion these few days. I keep mixing up the days. Yesterday I thought was Thursday and got all my appointments wrong. Today I thought was Friday and got my work schedule wrong. Everyone here is telling me to go on a break, go to our house in Jaffa. But there is no room for me there. And here there's no one to celebrate Mass for the several sisters' convents. I'm practically alone saying two or more Masses a day. 

Fox at crossroads

And the heatwave is back. The temp this week is 36 - 40 degrees. It's also very humid. It's definitely not a good time to be sick. The zinnias are dying and it's time to pull them out. They were prolific in flowers this year. Now it's time to plant the bulbs and sow the Spring seeds. I just hope this winter we'll get lots of rain. Well it's been so hot, it must have caused a lack of food sources because several days back there was a fox running along the crossroads at Rockefeller Museum, trying to cross the road while a heavy traffic churned past. It was trying to get to the muslim cemetary across the road but didn't dare. It was a magnificent animal but very malnourished.

Thanks to everyone who gave me mulberries, Luo Han Guo and vitamins and medicine ... and socks. A perfect mind reader. I've been out of socks for several months now but every time I walk past the hawkers in the streets selling socks, I convince myself that it's not worth paying the money, and I can still wear torn socks because I wear shoes over them. Well almost. At M. Teresa's convent I have to remove my shoes and they see my toes sticking out of my socks and I get very embarrassed. Still daily I fight with myself whether to spend money buying socks. And then came a gift of 3 pairs!! Save me money and embarrassment.

School starts

Veggies and fruit from friends

The weekend fluctuated from cool to hot. The humidity at night though is very high, and everything outdoors is covered by heavy dew. The air smells like after the heavy winter rains. Hopefully the autumn and winter will be wet and chilly. We need the rain.

During the weekend, some filipino friends in Tel Aviv brought some veggies over to me. They have a garden and they plant lots of asian veggies. There was 1 kg of kangkong, several brinjals and half a squash. I really appreciate that we I have to buy my own veggies, and things have become very expensive now. I need to eat more veggies to reduce my bp and other bad stuff. Now I need to find time to cook them.

School has started for many primary and secondary schools. Public buses are full of students, and parents are busy bringing their kids first time in school. Very soon the routine will start and everything will be like clockwork. I look back at the many first-day-in-school experiences the past half century ... once upon a time I was among them. Time flies. 

Summer

Geez community after Mass

Every summer there's a shortage of priests here because most of them go on their vacations. The usual schedule for me is to help out in several migrant communities as well as some convents. That means I've to celebrate 4 Masses a day ... sometimes. Like last Saturday. The Geez Rite Church (Ethiopic or Eritrean depending on the area) community here is wonderful as I have to serve them for 2 months. Very dramatic traditional clothes and ancient hymns with exotic tunes. I always enjoy being with them. The only problem is it's 2km away uphill for me so I have to hire a taxi  if my swollen feet can't take me there.

I've been forgetting to take my medicines on time. That makes me dizzy and tired, no energy nor concentration to work. If my work day is fixed, then it's easier for me to remember to take my medicines. But if something happens and my schedule is rearranged, then I forget. I've been especially stressed these 2 weeks because the school year is beginning and many families are calling on me for help to pay for school fees, uniforms and books. Some are genuine cases but there are also some fakes who're out for a quick buck. Luckily I work closely with M. Teresa sisters, the Custody and the Patriarchate offices and we cross check every request with each other to verify that the cases are genuine and there are not duplications of aid given. Very efficient work here. 

By the way, yesterday there were 625 views on my blog ... again the suspicious rise in visits which mean some of my content isn't pleasing some people.