Chains of St. George

What a few days ... hurricanes, earthquakes ... the earth is rebelling and there is nothing science or technology can do to halt it. The primal energy of earth, wind and water cannot be domesticated for the greed of humans ... it only follows the natural law of God; and whoever breaks this law will face the full force of the primal elements, the defenders of creation.

The chain of St. George

A visit to the church of St. George in El Khader proved interesting: I found the famed "chains" of St. George, supposedly used to bind evil and sickness. Since Medieval times, people have had the chains put around their necks to "arrest" the demons that caused schizophrenia and other sickness. In fact, the lunatic asylum is just next door to this church. St. George is the guy who battled the dragon (a metaphorical representation of fighting evil), the patron saint of England. Too bad I forgot to put it around my neck ... to get rid of my own illness.

It's unlikely the chains of St. George would prove effective in arresting earthquakes and hurricanes.

Stromata

Rocky on his outdoor divan

Paid a visit to Rocky yesterday. He was very excited and couldn't stop jumping.  Brought his qibble and tuna fish that he used to eat, and a couple of pig's ears which he enjoys chewing. He's quite thin but now with the food that he's used to eating, he should be better. And the large garden is good for him as he enjoys running around chasing the numerous cats that come in. He's still a baby - only 6 months. And Sabrine and Faadi are taking good care of him. They love him very much.

Olive harvesting by hand

It's time for the olive harvest. People are out everywhere to collect the fruit that will either be pickled or crushed for oil. It's an important fruit here for the locals. For the villagers near Jewish settlements, it's a bigger problem. Settlers have been burning or destroying arab olive orchards, as the newspapers tell us. The livelihood of many families are now threatened. It's a sad situation but nothing will change till the next elections ... God willing.

Weatherwise the hot dry winds have returned but the nights get very chilly. Easy to fall sick. You never know what to wear when going out.

Of mooncakes and tea

MeiSum mooncake!!

Had a lovely Saturday afternoon tea with myself. Mooncake and Chinese tea (Tie Guan Yin). Thanks to Bernadette and Nicholas for their thoughtfulness. I know ... with the sugar and starch, I'll be paying for it healthwise. But meantime let me enjoy this rare treat. And ... thanks for the TimTams (Auntie Chan!!!). That'll be my next guilty pleasure!!

Weatherwise it's been awfully cloudy but not a drop of rain. Elsewhere in Israel it's still a downpour. The wind is quite chilly and people are going around in jumpers, windbreakers and scarves.

Rain

So it rained cats and dogs over Israel yesterday ... even a boat sank off the Tel Aviv coast. But not a drop in Jerusalem. As the rabbis say ... "God is not happy with Jerusalem". In fact the sun is beating down pretty hard while the rest of Israel is inundated.   http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/boat-sinks-off-tel-aviv-shore-as-stormy-weather-covers-israel-1.472521  and  http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=289412

Drummers on the march

Meantime the Eid al Adha celebrations continue. Last night a motley group of 9 muslim drummers marched through the Muslim Quarter in festive mood (love the alliteration). Little children trailed them, skipping and chanting to the beat. Sheep were slaughtered and roasted, families eating their share and the rest distributed to the poor.

Today being Sabbat, numerous jewish groups have entered the Old City to sightsee. It's a phenomenon not seen in the past 20 years. There're special tours tailored for Jewish cultural heritage ... in the muslim quarter. No wonder the muslims are feeling afraid. Just this afternoon there was a stabbing up in the alleys behind the Ecce Homo convent. Crowds were collecting at the crossroad and an ambulance managed to negotiate its way there as well.  I'm staying away from all that by locking myself in the library and doing my research.

Eid al Adha

Bazaar at Damascus Gate packed
with people

Today is the Feast of the Sacrifice ... which according to the muslims is Abraham's sacrifice of Ishmael (not Isaac) on the rock that is inside the Dome of the Rock. Each muslim family kills a sheep and the meat is distributed to the poor. The Old City is full of muslim pilgrims from all over the country as well as from overseas. I hear the Israelis did not close the checkpoint at Bethlehem even though it's also the Jewish celebration of the death of Rachel whose tomb lies directly next to the Bethlehem checkpoint.

So with all my recent sickness, some of the muslim shop owners opposite my house are telling me someone has cast an evil eye on me. They're certain of it.

And now the weather ... cool and breezy as should any autumn day. But we hear next week will bring back the heatwave. Not looking forward to it.

Drizzle

Food!!!!

Drizzle has been on and off since Sunday  .... not like it's a big deal; only a couple of drops and then the sun comes back.  It should have been alot heavier but all our hopes for a rainy winter blew off with the wind. Luckily this meant that our library staff barbeque went ahead without hitches. It was fun. Sr Maria invited us to her garden where Ronza and her family got the barbeque going. The rest of us helped by eating the food. It was a good and relaxing afternoon out of the office.

In the meantime the country was set for 2 Earthquake drills. One was at 11am and the second at 7pm. It's the first emergency drill held on a national level. The govt. is expecting a real big one with 7,000 dead and 17000 injured. There's no hope for those in the Old City because the houses are too many and the streets too narrow. But I still got my earthquake emergency backpack ready: torch, medicine, documents, water, a whistle. I've got only 20 seconds to run for shelter.

Haven't managed to get an appointment with my dentist yet. Must get the implant fixed before the gums close up. You cannot imagine how difficult it is to get simple things done over here.

New Saints today

The ancient olive trees
of Gethsemani

So after a year of research and tests, it's proven that the olive trees in our Garden of Gethsemane are indeed ancient, at least 1000 years old and all coming from the same parent plant.  http://www.jpost.com/Features/MagazineFeatures/Article.aspx?id=288565

This morning at 11am the whole country (Israel, not Palestine) underwent an Earthquake Drill. Later at 7pm in the evening there'll be a second drill. It's to prepare the people for the coming monster mother-of-all earthquakes that Israel has been expecting for the past 2 years. And it's going to come! Israel is expecting 7,000 dead; 70,000 injured and 170,000 homeless. Well I've got my earthquake survival pack ready. Just need to stock up on my medicines now. With the first tremor I've got only 20 seconds to grab and run.

Also this morning we have new saints. One of them is Franciscan sister Marianne, the pioneer nurse in modern medicine in the USA and collaborator of St Peter of Molokai with the lepers in Hawaii.  http://edition.cnn.com/2012/10/20/health/saint-marianne-cope/index.html?hpt=hp_c3  The other is Tekakwitha the Mohican girl. Pray for us St Marianne and St Tekakwitha. We need it.