End of January

Garbage at
Suleiman Street

The public service continues into the 3rd day with garbage piling up everywhere and streets reeking of rotting food. I wonder if the Municipality will resolve this problem soon. So far there has been no outcry in the  City over this but sooner or later as pests and rodents come out, there'll be a reaction.

Weatherwise the skies have gone all cloudy and grey ... and the cold has returned. A little drizzle this morning and we're expecting showers later in the evening. Everyone is talking about the forecast of zero degrees tonight and the next few days. I'm certainly not looking forward to it.

American politics is still the topic in the streets and newspapers. Like I said in yesterday's blog, the travel ban affects not just arabs here but also jews. The sacking of the acting Attorney General ... well ... looks like America is now a dictatorship. Democracy in the death throes. In a rare move, orthodox and liberal jew have united to oppose the travel ban as they remember jewish refugees turned away by America during their flight from Nazi persecution in Europe.  http://www.timesofisrael.com/in-rare-unity-orthodox-and-liberal-denominations-slam-trump-refugee-ban/

One of our
illuminated
manuscripts
exhibited in NY

Our manuscripts have returned from the Metropolitan Museum of New York. It was a successful exhibition entitled "Jerusalem 1000-1400: Every People under Heaven". If I remember correctly, there were over a million visitors. Anyway they flew back to Jerusalem accompanied by the Met's conservator. Each of the 3 huge volumes require 2 men to carry as they are a meter high and bound in wood and bronze covers. And inside the illuminated initials are incredible ... gold and tempera exquisitely used to decorate some pages. Soon these and other manuscripts will be available online as the digitalization project ends. But not too soon ... it'll be another year at least. So don't hold your breath.

Strike

Daffodils for the
New Year

Another very cold day even though temp. rose to 14 degrees this afternoon. Tomorrow's forecast is rain and temp. will drop to zero. I dread having to go out to work in that weather.... aaaggghhhh.

Yesterday I saw a bedouin hawker selling narcissus flowers at Damascus Gate. I thought it would be nice to get some for the Lunar New Year ... a touch of home. But on closer inspection, they were all withering. Further up in the New City a flower shop was selling daffodils ... in effect yellow narcissus. So I bought 4 bunches. 2 for the Chinese convent and 2 for myself. They are delightfully scented, and the bright yellow is very cheery on an otherwise grey cold wet day.

All public services have gone on strike for the 2nd day. The streets are stinking with piling garbage. Trains have stopped, Post Offices closed .... what a chaos. Luckily Jerusalem is full of cats so hopefully they keep the rats at bay. Then again I've seen the rats at Damascus Gate ... they're as big as the cats!! Have to be very careful negotiating through the garbage strewn streets now ... being bitten by one of those rats would be disastrous.

Piling garbage in the streets

Repercussions of Trumps's orders are rippling through Israel as well. Israelis born in those 7 banned countries who hold duel citizenship may be subject to the entry ban as well. Lots of confusion here. But even more serious was the Israeli PM's tweet that Trump's building the wall along Mexico is a good idea because Israel built one along Palestine and it succeeded in keeping terrorists out. Boy ... the backlash. http://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Mexican-Jews-alarmed-by-Netanyahu-tweet-on-Trumps-wall-479964  and   http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.768340   and   http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4914286,00.html

2nd Day of the New Year

Last night - wet
and very cold

It's the 2nd day of the Lunar New Year. From the hailstorm yesterday, the weather took a bighorn and the sun was shining very brightly this morning. But it's still very cold ... no more than 5 degrees. Everyone was out to catch a bit of the sun. Even the parkour boys were out in the park jumping and somersaulting. Then suddenly at 2pm the dark clouds flooded the skies and it looks like winter again.

The storm however had washed up onshore countless explosive mines ... and the police are trying to figure out where these came from. No swimming that's for sure.

Meantime a public bus overturned during the storm and fell into a ravine 70 metres deep. Several people died and many injured. All jewish passengers. A Palestinian family braved the storm to come out and rescue the injured before the Israeli ambulances arrived.

Back in my community, the europeans are well-informed about the Lunar New Year. Everyone has been wishing me and Alberto our Indonesian student a happy new year. At lunch they wanted to know more about the lunar calendar and the zodiac ... many asking which year they were born. The sisters in the kitchen baked a cake and the superior asked me to cut it to celebrate the new year. It was nice ... the cake that is. For once the sisters baked a cake without nuts so I could eat it.

This morning in Jerusalem

Mind you today I was supposed to go to our Jaffa parish and serve as sacristan. But got an emergency call from the 3rd Station of the Cross sisters (Armenian Catholic Cathedral) saying they have no priest for the liturgy so I had to go there and preside, therefore having to cancel my service in Jaffa. Pity as I was looking forward to some quiet time there in the church. No class tonight at 4am so it would have been a restful night in Jaffa by the sea. Well I can ask for everything. I'll continue cleaning my room this afternoon ... and play with Buddy who's getting quite upset because I've not had time to play with him all week.

One upsetting thing during this new year is Trump's administrative order to stop refugees from 7 countries entering the US. It's dreadful. Jesus said "I was hungry and you fed me, homeless and you gave me shelter". Now there's a backlash from foreign govt. to corporate companies to the jewish people ... the people who knows what it was to be rejected and persecuted. They will not forget.  http://www.timesofisrael.com/trump-seeks-to-explain-muslim-ban-in-flurry-of-calls-to-world-leaders/
and

Chinese New Year

New Year altar with card from Mum

Happy and Healthy New Year. Hope all that monkey business of the Monkey Year is gone and the Rooster will peck them away. This year I have no New Year goodies. No pineapple tarts, no Kweh Blandah, no shrimp rolls, no carrot cake (luo buo gao), no water-chestnut cake (ma tai gou) ... like the only festive thing I have for the New Year is mandarin oranges. So I've been eating mandarin oranges last night and today. Am having a fun time trying to teach Buddy to eat mandarin oranges. He dislikes the tangy taste.

Well yesterday evening was high drama ... which I didn't mention in yesterday's blog. I had only 45 minutes from finishing work and changing and preparing to go to Mandarin Restaurant for the Reunion dinner. It was a big rush. While getting my stuff together and rushing out of my room (remember there was a hailstorm), I discovered that I could't find my spectacles. I remembered distinctly that when I changed my shirt I took them off but now I could not find it. Searched the entire room for half an hour and was running late. Was very upset, frustrated and panicky. because of the hailstorm I had planned to keep my specs in its box instead of wearing it. But there was no specs in the box. Finally I decided to go without my specs. But not before washing my face first. Went to the toilet and looked into the mirror ... to see that I was wearing the specs all the time. Now I must be really getting old, or tired or both.

Hailstones in our
flower pots

It's 2 degrees today but the forecast says it feels like minus 3 degrees. And it does! Rain and drizzle alternating. Snow in the north and south of Jerusalem ... while hailstones still litter the gardens. The skies continue to be dark and grey. I have my 2 heaters on but it still feels cold in the room. Let's hope this will pass tomorrow. It's quite inconvenient in this weather to do anything but on the other hand, we need the rain to stop this drought.

Well though it's the New Year, I still have to work today. And it's Sabbat. I'll spend a few hours in the afternoon quietly in my room. It will feel a little different ... some relax time ... just to make it feel like it's the Chinese New Year back home.

Reunion Dinner

Alberto playing in the ice

Chinese New Year Eve ... and we're having a hailstorm. Temperatures dropped drastically. Now it's 2 degrees officially but it's actually zero degrees when the winds whip up. And the hail and graupel ... unbelievably powerful lashes of it. They strike the skin and hurt. And the grass are turning white with ice. The hail and graupel melt on the streets and pavements but on grass and soil, they remain covering the area. Our Indonesian student was excited and played around the ice. It is his first winter.

Reunion Dinner

We had our Reunion Dinner at Mandarin restaurant - we meaning the asian religious in Jerusalem. Nine of us in all. They are priests and sisters and one lay person coming from China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, India, Korea and Taiwan. We had to walk through the hailstorm to get to the restaurant. I was soaking wet, hands hurting from the hailstones, and suffered an asthma attack.

Ah Ling did a great dinner for us: dumplings, chicken soup, noodles ... things that were not on the menu. Everyone enjoyed it. Each racial group sang a song in its own language. It was a fun evening. Until we had to go home. The hailstorm was even heavier. The wind lashed the hail like stones were being thrown at us. We couldn't walk fast enough to get home, turn on the heaters and go right into bed.

Thus the Year of the Monkey ended.

Feast of Blessed Allegra

Damascus Gate steps
all wet and slippery

It's raining right now. It's cold and the streets are slippery. Just as forecast. Well the Chinese New Year will be wet. Perhaps it's a blessing. When it rains, there's never violence. Everyone stays home ... dry and warm. I just finished Eucharistic adoration and confessions at M. Teresa's sisters' convent ... 7pm when I looked out of the window and saw that it was raining. I had to go home in the shower ... which was pleasant in a way because we so rarely have rain. On the way home, I found soldiers and police huddling at many doorways with shelters. A police van came along to deliver hot drinks and dinner to them. I thought I needed one too.

Mass for Blessed Allegra

Today of course is the Feast of Blessed Gabriele Allegra. In Jerusalem, and in my house, he's remembered as a professor and scholar. We celebrated a commemoration Mass for him ... and the chinese sisters and chinese laity also came. We sang the Ave Maria in chinese during communion. Fr. Matthias, who is from the Studium Biblicum in China which was founded by Blessed Allegra, presided at the Mass.

In school, there was a small exhibition on the life and work of Blessed Allegra. Unfortunately not many students saw or will see it because term break just started yesterday. Too bad.

Yesterday as a result of so much rushing up and down the hill from one place to another (for 3 consecutive days) dealing with various postal problems and other urgent stuff, I hurt my sciatic nerve again. It was bad. I could not stand up straight. And I had to hobble home. Sleeping was impossible because of the pain. Because I was so tired, I didn't even think of spraying analgesic balm on my hamstrings. This morning though it was better. I can walk on flat ground. It's climbing stairs and slopes that hurts the back and legs.

3 days to CNY

Police horses and their trailers

Tensions continue to rise as news spreads that Israel will increase building more settlements in Palestine. There is a propaganda war on the Internet with Israel pushing out videos claiming sovereignty over Palestinian land, that Palestine never historically existed, that it is an israeli right to build and live in Palestine. I only hope dialogue and help resolve this, not violence from both sides of the divide. Meantime more stop-and-search are taking place throughout the City, vehicles still forbidden to traverse our streets in the Muslim Quarter (something I'm grateful for) ... and the Mounted Police have arrived. That is a sure sign that they expect problems. The horse trailers are parked opposite the Old City in a plot of land below Notre Dame. The horses are allowed to destress and acclimatise to the noise and smells of the City before they are brought into service in the streets.

One thing is I hope this tension will not dampen the Chinese New Year celebrations. Not that Israel ever celebrates it ... but for us chinese pats who want to celebrate, closure of roads, curfews and transport stoppages would not be pleasant.

And the weather promises to be cool if not cold during the CNY. Forecast is for rain on Friday night to Monday.