Foggy night

Yesterday lunch was spent with some of the students from TS College. 4 indians and 1 maltese. We went to the new Beijing Restaurant that's just a 100 metres behind their house ... and they never knew it existed. It was pretty rainy and cold though but the short walk ended up with a very nice lunch. The cook is thai, so there was Tom Yam soup which warmed everyone up. And there was thai curry which the indians loved.

However my tummy didn't hold up and I suffered terrible cramps and diarrhea. Had to take a taxi to go home. Was really sick. Nausea for the rest of the afternoon.

After resting for several hours, it was out again for dinner. This time with my former students from Ratisbonne. One was getting ordained, and today they would celebrate their founder's feastday St John Bosco and of course I actually wanted it to be a New Year celebration for Chuyen the vietnamese student who missed the celebration with his family. It was a crazy time as most of the 11 guys wanted to try using chopsticks. They had a good time. They come from Vietnam, Canada, india, italy, Poland and Brasil. Ah Ling the owner of Mandarin Restaurant had gone back to China so the Hong Kong Ah Pak and Por Por took over. They did up a fantastic cantonese meal with wonton soup, steamed fish, sweet sour pork etc...

Enough of food! Today I was on a fast to clean out my system. Had a glass of yoghurt and honey. Felt so much better.

Thick fog over the Palm Piazza

Foggy main road uphill

Well the weather was really cold and damp. Fog everywhere. I never saw the City so covered in fog as last night.  It was so foggy you couldn't see the Light Rail coming ... just hear it's bell ringing. Good thing I didn't get lost!

Another cold day

Archaeologists digging at the Herodian Fortress near Bethlehem have rised lively debate (at best) or mockery (at most) in the country. Believed to be the burial place of King Herod the Great (according to Josephus) and recently a couple of archaeologists have claimed they actually found the long lost tomb itself, the proposal is to rebuilt the "Tomb" for tourists have resulted in an outcry.  http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/top-archaeologists-condemn-israeli-plan-to-rebuild-ancient-tomb-1.409779  Top archaeologists decry it as a Disneyland. Well ... most religious places here have already turned into an amusement park. People eat, drink, joke at the holiest sites of Christianity while they won't dream of doing it in their own country parishes.

Mamilla Mall in the night

Last evening Praveen wanted to take a walk with his sister who works as a domestic in Abu Tor (3.5 km south of Jerusalem). He asked me to join him. So we all took a slow walk up to the New City. But she got called by her employer to return home so Prav and I walked on alone. Had an ice-cream (it was 5 degrees outside!!!) each and walked down to Mamilla Mall. There was a new outdoor exhibition all along the Mall. The theme used to be "Biblical people" now it's "music". In the cold, there were 4 young buskers - very talented. Prav and I were very impressed and we dropped some coins into their bag ... I think it was 9 shekels or something ... loose change. All through the shops, Spring sale was on. Form 50% to 70% in most shops. Took advantage of this and bought some real shoes for rain and snow. very comfy. Also bought a jacket to keep warm ... I had gone out with only a hoodie. Found out too late that it was very cold and raining. Then further down mall, we stopped at a cafe for a hot cocoa. And before we returned home, Prav wanted to show me a swanky shop that sells Swedish swanky coffee machines. It was impressive. I should go back there to take some photos.

The 4 young buskers

Another day of exams for the other students, another day of reading and writing for the rest. The weather is still cold and wet. So a stay in the library is the best place to be. As for me, the diarrhea and cramps are not ending. Between hours of work, I have to rest or sit on the throne. Apparently many people are struck down by this as well this week. They blame it on the cold. Perhaps. Ronza, our library assistant's two boys are stricken with asthma because of the cold. Well you can't win. We need the rain but we can't stay healthy with it.

Sunny Sunday

The weather has again turned around and we have a very bright warm day. It's about 16 degrees and though the sun is warm, there's still a cold wind blowing.

Students throughout Israel have gone on strike to protest the law that allows religious Jews from exemption in military service. During our usual Sunday morning walk, Buscemi and I saw a pretty quiet school devoid of students except for 5 or 6 loitering in the basketball court. I don't think it'll accomplish anything but the students felt they needed to make their point.

And there was this funny sign posted out at Aladdin's - the moneychangers in East Jerusalem. Makes you wonder if you want to change your money there.

Unfortunately the cramps and diarrhea are still wrecking me apart. Throughout the Sunday walk I had cramps and diarrhea. Wasn't a pleasant walk at all. Let's hope it'll pass by tonight.

The exams are well underway ... both nationwide as well as in our school. Tensions are high but so is the relief after each paper is done. Svetlana was our first student to defend her thesis yesterday. She passed. I think there're 3 more defenses to go. For the rest of us, its reading and research as usual.

Pigs and Politics

What a storm we had last night. Strong cold winds and rain lashing across the City. Temperature fell to about 5 degrees. This morning we had no hot water. Had to wash my face in freezing water ... I think that caused my headache the whole day. The roads are very slippery and many tourists fell on the steps of our courtyard. I had to go up to Ratisbonne for a meeting - its 2 kms away. With the cold and rain, I decided to take an arab taxi there. 2 kms cost me 40 shekels or US$11. Dreadful. So coming back, I decided to walk ... and the rain and wind lashed right across. Got home soaked and shivering and a very bad headache. And we had several blackouts today. No electricity = no heating.

My elbow tendonitis is back with a vengeance. Hurts like hell. Am trying to do some stretching exercises to loosen the tendons. Now I can't carry anything even a little heavy. Awful. Sounds like the New Year is not going so well after all. The rain is still beating down. I'll just stay put in my room with my heater on and hope tomorrow morning we have hot water.

There's an interesting article in the newspapers today about pig-rearing in Israel. Apparently before Independence, there were pig farms everywhere and Jews and muslims never complained. Then when the State was formed and religious Jews got into politics, then the law was passed to prohibit the rearing of pigs except in a couple of places up north. This prohibition law was reluctantly enacted and only because the ruling party was afraid of its coalition with the religious party collapsing. Politics determine pork. And it was only the Vatican and a nun who protested to fight for the right to rear pigs here.  http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/week-s-end/the-makings-of-history-pork-and-the-people-1.409478#.TyPFfTyQIUQ.facebook

Friday again

Yesterday was a busy day ... running around doing so much and still not knowing what's it about. Meetings as well. Well, I wasn't the only one busy ... the hackers in Israel and the Arab countries have been super busy. The last few days saw hackers from both sides downing the websites of the other. Don't know where its going to end. Airlines, institutes ... all were downed in a tit-for-tat attack. And talk of bombing Iran continues to fill the headlines.

The weather was very good. Sunny and bright despite a cold wind. Lots of people were in the streets to take advantage of this break. However today the dark clouds return. The wind is very much colder. It's 10 degrees now and it'll go down to 6 degrees tonight. The forecast is for rain today and tomorrow. Let's hope it does. We're aiming for the Sea of Galilee to rise by several more centimetres .... just like last year.

Here's a funny pic - Rex learning to read with teacher Oliver. He looks very attentive! Oliver, I mean .... he might end up as Rex's dinner!!!

The cramps and diarrhea have returned. People say its due to the cold. Perhaps. It's exam time as well, so many guys who're suffering from diarrhea actually get it from anxiety and tension.

Yesterday was also the remembrance day of Fr Allegra. As usual there was a little exhibition in our school on his works and life. Too bad it was exam time so not many students came to see it.

So the weekend begins for us. I'll still have to continue reading up on my research. Back to work ...

Conversion of St Paul - 3rd day of CNY

The rains returned last night but it was less cold - 12 degrees. Bearable. Streets get terribly deserted by 6pm  in this weather. Everyone just wants to stay warm at home. I'm getting good at bearing with the cold. I remember the first time I experienced winter ... wore 7 layers of clothes. Now I get by with 3. Maybe it's because of global warming.

This morning the sun regained control of the skies as the rain clouds blew over west to Jordan. Got up early to take a pic of the sunrise - splendid view. Just far beyond in the centre between the foreground trees, you'll see the silhouette of the Mt. of Olives and the spire of the Augusta Victoria hospital. There was none of the normal reddish golden glow on the horizon. Instead it was resplendent white. Marvelous. Something that St. Paul on his road to Damascus encountered - the bright light?

Haven't eaten anything for 36 hours to stave off the diarrhea and cramps. Am doing well ... no hunger pangs so far. Today Khalil the cook is doing a piece of entrecote for me - baked in the oven of course. 

Found out why there was all that tension 2 days back with helicopters flying overhead and soldiers everywhere. 2 Hamas leaders were arrested just down the Kidron valley. Yesterday ultra-orthodox Jews attacked another woman in Bet Shemesh.  http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/woman-in-beit-shemesh-attacked-by-ultra-orthodox-extremists-1.409065

Meantime the country is riding high when the Israeli film "Footnote" was nominated for an Oscar. Not bad for the small film industry here. it's the 10th Israeli film to be nominated in Oscar history.  http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/israeli-film-footnote-nominated-for-oscar-award-1.409001

2nd Day of CNY

So wonders of wonders on CNY yesterday. My awful tennis elbow on the right arm righted itself after weeks of pain and inability to carry things. Yesterday I needed to grab and twist open something and being right-handed, I used my right hand. Terrible pain at the elbow. But when I tried hard by lifting it up and twisting, suddenly the bones/tendons fell into place and the pain disappeared. What a relief! Now could this be a sign of good things to come in the Year of the Dragon? Like better health?