Easter

Christ is risen!

Χριστός ανέστη

Քրիստոս հարյավ ի մեռելոց

المسيح قام

Palm Sunday

Ethiopic christians on Palm
Sunday

 It's Palm Sunday, the procession from Bethphage is underway ... and it is raining and cold. The Meteorological Station says it's 14 degrees but it feels like zero. The wind is very gusty. The procession will not be very pleasant but I'm sure the young people will not be let the weather dampen their celebration. 

Not every one will celebrate of course. The military bombed the Anglican hospital and church this morning. That was the first news we heard on Palm Sunday morning. Very tragic. What a horrible way to start Holy Week. It's a poignant reminder that Christ called us to carry the cross and follow him ... to Calvary to die. Apprehensive but not without hope, we move towards the Paschal Triduum ... not knowing what other surprises await us.

New Gate decorated

Today it's not just our Palm Sunday. All the Orthodox Churches also celebrate Palm Sunday today as our different calendars coincide. And it's also the Jewish Passover. It's a very rare occasion for such a coincidence of Gregorian, Julian and jewish calendars. I saw busloads of ethiopic orthodox christians coming to the Holy Sepulchre to celebrate Palm Sunday. They are by far the largest Orthodox group to come. The once numerous Russian and Ukrainian Orthodox churches are significantly missing this year as they usually are the largest contingent for Holy Week services. Things have changed globally and locally. There's no going back after Covid and the war. It's a new reality that we must live in and adapt to.

Sandstorm

Sun blocked by sandstorm

What an absolutely strange weather we had yesterday! A sandstorm covered the sky, blocking out the sun and casting a yellow gloom over the country ... hot, dry winds from the south blowing desert sand. But there was also a thunderstorm at the same time! Thunder and lightening that broke out in heavy rain. It didn't last long but when rain mixes with sand ... we have a recipe for disaster! Everywhere was caked with mud ... even cars were speckled with mud drops. This is the first time ever I have experienced such a phenomenon. 

The sandstorm has persisted even today. People are not happy that their windows are muddied after cleaning them for the Jewish Passover next week. They pay foreign workers to clean it spick and span, but it looks like they'll need cleaning again.

Sand even on my roses

People were wearing masks ... now they're getting the hang of it and don't feel embarrassed. People with respiratory problems are badly affected by this sandstorm. It's very fine desert sand that slips through the spaces between windows and doors. You can feel a layer of sand on the lips after going out in this storm. 

The heat of the desert winds have shriveled many young leaves and plants. My roses were badly affected. I watered them in the evening and hope they'll not die.

Flowers

Preparing for confessions

Summer weather is slowly creeping in. Daytime is sunny and temp rises to 26 degrees. But evenings and early mornings are still cool, around 11 degrees, and require a jacket if going outdoors. The muslim call to prayer is getting earlier each morning ... about 4am now. At the height of summer, it's as early as 2.30am.

Yesterday I had to go to Jaffa to hear confessions. There were 2 others, all Indians, who helped out. About 200 people came for confession and it took us over three hours to hear it all. That's a big difference from last year when only less than 50 confessed.

Backyard flowers

It was also a good occasion to catch up with the parish priest, an old friend from 30 years back. He and his wife stay in the parish house - it's a Greek Melkite parish and they have married priests - though his home is still in Jerusalem. The backyard of the parish house was full of wild flowers and I plucked many for our chapel back home. The Municipality had told them to cut it all down by next week for some reason or other (mosquito breeding?) so the parish priest and his wife told me to cut as many as I want before they mow it down. 

Holy Week is a week away. Security is being stepped up in the City as believers celebrating their feasts will cross paths in certain gates and streets, a crowd control has to be place if any traffic jam is to be avoided. As with every year, there'll be a police block on both sides of our main entrance as crowds tend to gather around here. No going out, no coming in.

Marathon

Italian hyssop

It's the 1st Friday after daylight saving started. That means Marathon Day. The City is closed down. No public or private transport from 6am to 2pm. Offices inside the City are closed as people cannot get to work. Food and beverage places will open as they'll have big business with hungry and thirsty runners and spectators.

The Marathon is divided into 3 sections: family marathon where kids are included in the casual jog/stroll of 3km I think; then the half marathon and the full marathon. So far winners of the full marathon have been ethiopic runners. They're legendary.

And the weather is very nice ... a cool 11 degrees right now. Runners had already started at 6.30am. Security helicopters have been flying overhead since 5.30am. New Gate is closed except to pedestrians because it opens directly into the Marathon circuit.

Red nasturtiums

This cool weather is making all the plants flower profusely ... including my little garden. It's a splash of colours on our little terrace. Red nasturtiums, white alyssums, yellow freesias, golden daisies, purple anemones and yellow ranunculus. Wild snapdragons are also growing among them. I don't pull them out because they're endangered in our country. They grow mainly in the walls of the Old City and are considered weeds that destroy masonry. Because of this weed eradication, the snapdragon indigenous to our country has become endangered. The snapdragon provides lots of nectar for bees and butterflies, and so plays an important role in our city ecosystem. Otherwise our insects in the City would all die off.

Good Friday collection appeal

 

Heat

 Though the weather has warmed up considerably - up to 16 degrees in the morning - the sky remains cloudy and grey. It feels like it might rain, but it won't. Summer will be very hot.

Shop burnt

As I walked to work this morning, I saw a crowd gathered around one of the shops in Musrara. There was a police cordon around the shop. As I turned the corner I saw what had happened ... it was burnt all through 2 storeys. It's the Al Ayed shawarma and roast chicken restaurant. Perhaps the coal barbeque was not totally extinguished and a fire started from there. But this shop has a history of fights and clashes ... even gun fire. So I won't be surprised if it's a gangland fight. 

The City has calmed down alot as Eid al Fitr enters its last day today for us. Shops are beginning to open up again. That's important because for 2 days now I couldn't buy bread or vegetables or fruit. Here the muslims take 3 days holiday for the Eid. This evening after work, I'll go to Musrara open market and buy some. I'll also gather some news about the burning of the Al Ayed restaurant.

Lent will end soon and Holy Week will promise to be very interesting when Orthodox, Latins and Jews celebrate their feasts on the same day.