Nightmares

There must be trouble at the Ras el Amud area (about 2km south from where I live) because helicopters were flying there this morning and now again in the afternoon. Israeli Jews have bought over property in that muslim village and are constructing huge apartment buildings in the midst of the rundown turn-of-the-century shanties. Well, before the arabs there start another (almost) weekly riot, they should ask themselves why in the world they sold the properties to the Jews in the first place. If it's sold, then it's the legal property of the buyers and they have every right to build what they want. It's all the greed for money.

Yesterday evening Fr Wojciech defended his doctoral thesis in front of a full hall. He studied Psalms 14 and 53 regarding the topic "The fool says there is not god". Pretty apt for a modern world. Couldn't stay for the whole defense - I left after 2 hours - because I had a meeting with the Custos at 6.15pm. Hurried up hill in the dark and drizzly night. Everyone else went to dinner at the Notre Dame Centre to celebrate Wojciech's doctorate. I came home alone after the meeting - no dinner. Found a pack of Lionsing "Emme" instant rice in my "wonder pack" (that's where I keep my goodies for a rainy day). Fantastic stuff! Know what to get me for birthday or Christmas?????

Have been having nightmares for the past 3 nights. Woke up each time frightened .... lots of work still unfinished, gotta finish them quick, no time.... nightmares. Or it could be the cold ... no heating for the past 3 nights. Whatever. It's wrecking my life. I'm a zombie during the day.

But there's a little good news - with all the heavy rains last week, the Sea of Galilee rose by 1 metre. Doesn't do much for my nightmares but I'm sure the rest of the country is happy.

In a couple of weeks Ash Wednesday will be celebrated. Prepared for Lent?

Dies irae

Yesterday was so exhausting ... was up and down the New and Old City from 9am to 6pm non-stop. And terribly hungry too. As I was too late for lunch at any of the 3 communities, i decided to go and buy something to eat instead. Only to find out it's the beginning of the Sabbath and all restaurants were closed ... well almost. The Chinese restaurant was open so I went to buy fried rice plus two fried eggs on the top. Guess how much it cost - fried rice US$15 and two fried eggs US$2.50. Could have eaten my shoe instead!

So my feet and back are sore from all that walking and meeting. Really worned out. But worse was yet to come.

So calamity of calamities. My Mac is playing up as well. It hanged 6 times last week and twice the day before. I lost the stuff I wrote. When I got my USB pen where i store my backup files, i found everything there was deleted! All my year's work gone! I was so distraught. I don't know how it happened but it did. Someone is sabotaging me. I keep my computer in the library so it's open to use by anyone if I'm not around. I went to see the Dean about this, but there's nothing anyone can do. I'll have to retype everything from the beginning. I don't trust computers anymore.

So yesterday was not a good day for me. Dies irae dies illa ......

Nice lunch

There is a very strong wind blowing outside. People are still wearing their thick winter clothes as the cold is still overwhelming. Hope it won't be another 2 degree night again.

This afternoon I was invited by Sinead to have lunch at their "house". There are 4 of them in the community - called the Koikonia of St. John the Baptist. All are consecrated laity and they do various work for the Custody of the Holyland. Sinead was the cook today - not bad I must say. There was the ubiquitous Irish potato of course, and a nice roasted chicken. There was also broccoli pasta. I enjoyed their company and learnt about their community. And the topic of conversation turned to the coming earthquake in Israel. They asked what preparations they ought to do.

So I'm putting up the advice for preparing for an earthquake by Jerusalem Post. Read them Sinead!

1. Locate a safe place in your home, far from exterior walls. If your home has a MAMAD, it is preferable than any other room.

2. Show all members of the household where the main electrical breakers and main water and gas valves are, and how to close them.

3. Familiarize yourself with the emergency exits, if there are any.

4. Establish a meeting point for family members in case the earthquake takes place when you are in different locations.

5. Any object which can move, fall or break, is a source of danger. Make sure you perform thorough home preparations.

6. Earthquakes damage infrastructure - roads are demolished, electrical and telephone cables tear and water pipes burst. Rescue and relief units will have difficulty accessing every area, and certainly every house. Preparing an emergency bag will allow you to survive for 24 to 72 hours, until help arrives.

7. Most casualties in an earthquake are caused by collapse of shelves and heavy objects or by fire and gas leaks. Therefore, it is advisable to take the trouble today and do the following home preparations:

8. Attach bookshelves, cupboards and television sets to walls.

9. Reinforce supports of water boilers, heater tanks, gas bottles, air conditioners and their compressor units.

10. Store hazardous and flammable materials under lock and key and far from heat sources; place heavy objects as low as possible.

11. Household emergency equipment: Prepare in advance some emergency gear and store it in an accessible place, such as the protected space. It should include: Food and water - a stock of drinking water (at least 4 liters per person) and preserved ready-to-use food (of the kind routinely stored in homes). Refresh the stock from time to time before it reaches expiry.

12. Essential equipment: A first aid kit, battery-operated light source and radio, essential medicines, spare eyeglasses, baby products.

13. Important documents: Hard or electronic copies of medical documents, identification papers, personal and financial documents, to be stored outside the house, as backup.

14. Aftershocks: Be prepared for secondary tremors (aftershocks). They can appear within minutes, days or even months following an earthquake and may collapse structures weakened by the main quake.

No snow?

Yesterday was Fr Allegra's anniversary. Here in school we remembered him, first during Mass then we displayed a small exhibition of his life and works. Eternal Light Webcast was inspired by him and carries his name. What a great man ... left his country to go to China and translate the Bible into Chinese; faced insurmountable obstacles; got the job done but got exiled; died a painful death on Jan. 26th. There're so many stories I can tell you ..... but some other time.

The past few days was freezing cold. Last night was down to 2 degrees. But the rains have stopped and the sun is up .... but with a cold cold wind blowing. Feels like winter!

My back is holding up, with still a slight pain. But the feet are hoggible (try figuring that one out ... it comes from "Friends" Phoebe .... who else?). Am limiting my walking now. Swollen and hurt. And the bloat is still around.

The almond trees are starting to bloom, the tulips are popping up from the cold earth, looks like Spring is coming pretty early. In fact here in Israel, we're celebrating Arbor Day. Hmmmmm so no snow this year ... like last year.

Freezing

What a cold day it was yesterday! The sky was really weird, one hour hot and sunny, another a tempest. It fluctuated like this the whole morning. Felt like zero degrees. And small snowflakes began to fall at 8am but the sun killed anything dream of a snowfall. Anyway we were happy - during dinner I said "Now this is really winter" and many agreed.

Did some reading yesterday and tried to tie up the parts of my research mentally. But at my age, I forget so easily. Got to start writing things down on paper.

Banged my knee on the bed-corner last night - tried to save electricity by not turning on the lights. Scraped the skin off the knee and also it's all blue and black. But I love going to the window and listening to the rain and thunder. It's fascinating.

Have you been following the readings for the daily Mass? Very interesting stuff. And by the way, the course "Thy Kingdom come!" is now available. Sign up at dsbiblecentre@gmail.com to join!

whale

The rains have returned. Last night it started at about 9pm. The sky was red and there were distant thunder. It counts for nothing more than a usual shower for you guys but for us, it's a storm ... let's see what damage it'll do.

OK, so previous night during dinner at Terra Santa College, some guys commented that I've put on so much weight in one week because i wasn't like that last week. So they figured, was I bloated? In fact some guys at my place already told me that. That got me thinking. If you go back on my blogs, you'll notice that I bloat (swollen feet as well) about once every three weeks. I've noted that yesterday when they talked about it to me. I wonder why that is? It's very uncomfortable and I lose my appetite. Two days back someone here even called me a whale.

So in my bloated/swollen state, I feel very ill and cannot move much. So yesterday morning I didn't clean my room. Did some reading and tried to watch my usual Sunday Christian movie. There wasn't anything good; just a rerun so I watched instead "The history of Singapore" by Discovery Channel. Absolutely fascinating - Raffles, the turn of the century, the war ... so many interesting facts. And what clicked was the part when Singapore was thrown out of Malaysia, and the first aid offered to start up the independent state came from Israel. So that's the Singapore-Israel connection.

Guess I'll go back to do some reading. Not going out in the rain, that's for sure.

Nice day

Sadly the body of the Archbishop of Haiti was found under the rubble of the cathedral and residence. He was buried yesterday evening.

On a happier note, yesterday was quite an event. I went to Bethlehem (a taxi ride away .... ever wondered how many of you could say that?) to celebrate a Mass for the Missionaries of Charity. One of them, Sr Jane Frances, was leaving for her new mission in Lebanon and it was a Thanksgiving Mass for her 8 years here in Israel/Palestine. We blessed her and she brought all her belongings in 3 bags and left for Jerusalem.

After that I was caught up in an hour long jam at the Bethlehem check-point. One solid hour. No kidding. The soldiers were checking every single car coming out of Bethlehem and going into Jerusalem. Almost half the cars were turned back - not permitted to enter Jerusalem. The jam was caused by drivers arguing with the soldiers. I thought it must be pretty tough and I was bracing for a harsh interrogation when  my taxi reached the security barrier. Then I recognised the soldier - his name was Linar and he was at the other barrier earlier to let me enter Bethlehem. Earlier he did not even look at my passport, he just asked where I came from and let me through, saying "Have a nice day, sir". So at the exit checkpoint, I called out to him and asked him if he remembered me from two hours back. He said he couldn't remember anyone because too many people were passing through. So I reminded him, and he said "So you actually remembered me from over there (the entry checkpoint)?" I said yes, and he smiled and said "ok you can go, and have a nice day, sir." He didn't even check my passport.

Once out of Bethlehem, I headed for Terra Santa College, because the community there invited our community (Flagellation Monastery) for dinner. It was nice. We prayed Vespers together and then had a lovely dinner. The Franciscan sisters who care for the kitchen were simply fantastic. Great food and awesome atmosphere. And of course nothing can substitute the incredible fraternity between our two communities (ours being the professors and theirs being the students). It was very relaxed and fun. And lots of laughs as well. Dinner ended at 9pm and I walked home - slowly because my back and feet hurt. Got home at 10.30pm .... pretty tired.