Back again

Crowds are back today

 My goodness how time has flown. My last blog was Monday! I've been very busy these days with translation work as well as my own studies ... writing assignments. And of course there's lots of work in both libraries. I hardly have time to eat meals now. In fact I only have a cup of coffee or tea in the morning and then a meal at 3pm. And I don't feel hungry. I guess that the mental activity draws attention away from the stomach. But I'm back again on the blog ... so you know I'm not dead yet.

Last night was very noisy out in the streets and I could hardly sleep. It was the birthday of Mohammed the prophet. Muslims from all over the country flocked to the Al Aqsa mosque all day yesterday and today. The police did not enforce social distancing or prayer in capsules of 10 people. It was free for all ... though thankfully majority of them wore masks. But with people coming from all parts of the country ... the chances of infection are very highly. I panicked when at 4pm yesterday I needed to go to the MC convent for confessions and eucharistic adoration. I dodged the crowds left and right, shouting at people to make way as they slowly gaited along the street, shopping and eating and chatting. Scary.

Beggars galore

And one thing more that came back after these 8 months of lockdown ... beggars. Lots of beggars lined the main streets as the crowds walked past. It was a windfall for them.

And today Friday and muslim feastday crowded with worshippers, the Al Aqsa mosque became the centre of protests against the French President. Police arrested several instigators. I am revolted by this constant muslim persecution of christians in our own churches. If it were a synagogue, the world would be outraged. If it were a mosque, a jihad would have been called. But it's christians ... so nobody cares. If muslims demand that others respect their religion ... then they should start respecting other religions too. The injustice to christians by muslims must end ... if not on earth, then by Divine Justice. It will come ... as sure as the earth quakes. 

New Patriarch

Elderly worshippers

An insanely busy day today ... almost every hour I was responding to 3 different messages simultaneously. I barely had time to rest ... it was mentally exhausting. There was a lot of work in the General Library in the morning and then immediately at 2pm I had to rush off to East Jerusalem to buy a book a seminarian needed. Then it was back home to work in the other library before I ahd to go out to Damascus Gate to meet the seminarian and give him the book, and at the same time meet our korean friend who very kindly cooked bipimbap for me. Then a quick dash home to celebrate mass online for our chinese sisters. 

I had planned to study a chapter from a book today but I simply couldn't. Just too much to do and now too tired to do any reading. I'll have to wake up early tomorrow morning and catch up with my studies.

Yesterday while on my way to the New City I noticed 2 elderly muslim women walking the opposite way towards the Al Aqsa Mosque. It occurred to me that most muslims worshippers from outside Jerusalem are mainly elderly. And majority are women. Younger muslims no longer are coming. Perhaps it's the lockdown and police action stopping them. 

The computer system of the Health Ministry broke down on Saturday so for 2 days we didn't have any news as to the infection rate. Today a mere 500+ cases were reported. We're not sure if it's accurate ... but so long as they remain in 3 digits, we're happy. 

Our new Patriarch

At 1pm yesterday church bells rang all over the country. We have a patriarch! For 4 years it was sede vacante and our former Custos was nominated Apostolic Administrator. Yesterday the Vatican announced that he will be the new patriarch. Everyone was very happy as he is well-liked by most. Of course there's a little group that hoped it was an arab to be patriarch. Our Patriarch-designate is an italian. I for one felt terrible ... I know him too well. We were classmates 30 years back. He has suffered much these 4 years and now he will have to suffer for the rest of his life till his retirement. I know he's sad but his sense of service compels him to accept this mission. Pray for him.

Day out

Crows at Damascus Gate

 Crows don't migrate ... so I don't know what is happening today when in the morning there were swarms of crows over Damascus Gate cawing so loudly it drowned out every other sound. Then towards sunset at 5pm these hoards of crows flew over our house from the Mt. of Olives towards the western side of the City. At first I thought some natural catastrophe would occur as animals are more sensitive to these phenomena. Nothing happened ... today. We'll see what happens tomorrow.

Jungle petshop

This morning was chilly and very cloudy. It felt like rain was coming ... and at 7am it began to drizzle abit. But at 10am the sun was up, the clouds flown away but a cold wind continued to blow. It was very damp and humid ... ad that made my breathing difficult. I had to walk out to the New City 2kms away uphill to do some errands. There were money transfer at the bank for payment of books, stocking up on foodstuffs as the lockdown is still not over ... and a visit to my favourite store ... Jungle petshop. Watching the rows of fish in the tanks is very relaxing. I've given Eran the owner lots of my aquarium plants as they are overgrown. They are brown cryptocorynes and are very rare in Israel. Eran then gave me 6 beautiful guppies for my aquarium ... beautiful blue-tailed species. 

Later in the afternoon, Ah Ling from Mandarin restaurant called and asked me to pick up some food she cooked. It was actually 3 huge plastic bags of food ... 2 dozen spring rolls, 1 box of braised pork, 2 tubs of soup, a dozen dumplings, 6 packs of beef, 4 packs of seafood .... I walked home 2kms with all these food. Business has been bad during these 6 months of lockdown. Instead of letting the food stock go to waste, she cooked everything and gave them to me. When I reached home, I started to divide them into smaller packs so tomorrow I can give them out to poor people.

I received calls from the MC sisters in Gaza and St. Vincent de Paul sisters in Syria. They recounted their difficulties in their respective warring regions. I must to help them in whatever little way I can. And for that, I need your help.

Winter coming

Burger dinner

 It's Thursday and tomorrow is another weekend. With restrictions eased, many people will be celebrating though gatherings of more than 10 people are forbidden. But here nobody cares ... and nobody enforces the law. Easing of restrictions include the possibility of visiting other houses. That means we can go to celebrate Mass at the various sisters' convents who have no had Mass for the past 4 weeks.

My classmate from 30 yrs back called me yesterday asking to borrow a book which he needs to consult for a project. It was a good opportunity to meet up again ... so he drove over to Damascus Gate to pick me up. I wanted to see the rest of the City as I haven't been beyond Ben Yehuda Mall 1km away from my office. So he drove me around to see the rest of the City. At 7pm it was rather crowded ... people still wore masks but not distancing. And there were hardly any police to enforce the law.  Anyway I gave my friend my copy of the book and we had 2 hours of chatting and catching up. His eldest son has just graduated from High School ... which shows how old we have become. And I knew his wife 30 yrs back when she was a high school student. At 9.30pm we were ready to go home and both of us were hungry ... we hadn't eaten dinner. Searching for takeaway food was very difficult as there was either no parking space or restaurants simply remained closed. We finally decided to go to East Jerusalem instead. There we found a burger restaurant still open. My friend bought me a takeaway meal ... and it tasted really good after weeks of eating instant noodles, cold rice and leftover food. Anyway it was good to catch up with my classmate ... I guess lockdowns have made us appreciate friends even more.

Buddy and JJ are molting as winter approaches. Their summer feathers are everywhere .... very untidy. And their new feathers grow inside tough follicles that need preening in order to break them and release the new feathers. Both birds come to me every day so I can scratch the area where they cannot reach ... such as the back of their necks. It relieves them from a lot of discomfort. And their winter feathers are thick and glossy. They're well prepared for winter

Raindrops on roses

Rain on the terrace

 It rained yesterday afternoon! The first winter rains ... and it was a good shower, moderately heavy ... and lots of thunder. It rumbled for well over 40 minutes. But the sky was strangely not overcast. Everyone was surprised because the bright sky gave no warning of the shower. Even the meteorological stations were not aware of it. Social media were flooded with photos of the rain ... and to show you what a rarity rain is ... some people actually asked on social media what precautions they should take when it rains. Umbellas, raincoats, stay indoors ... were the common answers. Quite hilarious ... but given that it only rained this January after 15 years of drought, many younger generations know nothing about rainstorms. They are actually afraid.

Infections have risen just above 1000 yesterday ... and already experts are preparing for a 3rd wave of infections and a 3rd lockdown. I certainly hope not. The palestinian vice-president is in a critical state with covid ... and is being treated in Israel as palestine lacks the equipment and expertise to handle the pandemic.

Raindrops on roses ...

Gaza fired a missile into Israel yesterday while Israel discovered a deep long tunnel from Gaza leading into Israel. Then this morning a village at the Syrian-Israeli border was bombed ... and Syria accuses Israel. So the northern and southern borders are troubled. Let's hope it won't escalate. A wet winter with covid and an expected flu outbreak is bad enough.

Today I decided not go to work at the other library. I had to go to East Jerusalem instead to collect my medical insurance, buy stationary for the library and duplicate keys for my workers. The main steet of East Jerusalem called Salahaddin street was packed with people and cars ... like three's no pandemic. Most shops however do not entertain clients ... they can only buy things from the shops' main door, or are allowed to enter one person at a time. Majority of people also wear masks. That's a relief.

Of lilies

Golden autumn lily

 Autumn is tailing off ... and we're expecting the annual Orionid meteor showing tonight. It's publicised as spectacular but it is also known to be temperamental ... hence it might not as spectacular as announced by meteorologists. And it is best seen after midnight. I hope to see it tonight ... 

Autumn also means autumn bulbs blooming. I've had golden spider lilies for many years but they have not flowered in the past 4 years ... probably too much water and not enough sunlight. This year the bulb left in the trough under direct sunlight has blossomed. It's beautiful ... a full head of 4 flowers highlighted by the blue sky. There's a lesson to learn here ... that water and fertiliser aren't always good for some plants. A little shock, a little drought, a little heatwave ... and the best flowers are forced to bloom. Marigolds too are doing very well. The nights continue to be cool ... about 16 degrees so even the Spring bulbs have started sprouting. I'm expecting a riot of colours and perfumes in February next year. It's very rewarding ... gardening in 4 seasons.

Lily and marigolds

Infection rates have remained below 1000 which is good news for us all. But everyone is bracing for a new boom of infections because schools have reopened despite experts' warnings. We've seen it before last May but no lesson was learned. Mistakes are doomed to repeat itself. And worse, more lives lost for no reason.

Today our workers from Palestine were allowed to come back to work. That's a relief for me ... I don't have to hold 2 forts alone. Still I have to direct their work as 1 month has passed since they last were in office. Workload has piled up ... backlog must be cleared.

Meantime UAE and Israeli reps have met in both countries. There's hope for economic cooperation, mutual investment. Let's hope all benefit from it. The only losers are those who don't want to join into this new paradigm of cohabitation in the Middle East.

Stromata

 

Public piano at New Gate

Europe is turning back to lockdowns as infection rates blow out of control: Great Britain, Belgium, Italy ... and increasing at the same time. And while our numbers have dropped to below 1000 yesterday, the reopening of schools point to a possible rebound. Experts have warned against reopening schools ... it was the cause of the 2nd lockdown ... but govt and ultra-orthodox refuse to learn a lesson from the past. The ultra-orthodox rabbis are pushing for reopening schools and of course the govt bowed to their wishes. As all the local papers are saying ... the pandemic strategy is fueled by political motives and not scientific or humanitarian. The price to pay is high ... they will lose an entire generation in 20 years as infected people become sterile, and those who are sick will not be able to contribute to the economy. Instead they will burden the healthy ones with medical expenses and care. The country will be torn even more. Mark my words, it'll be too late for regrets. In 20 years, the price to pay will be high.   https://www.timesofisrael.com/prominent-rabbi-orders-haredi-schools-to-reopen-netanyahu-warns-against-move/?fbclid=IwAR1yN3nj-QqHQf1N0oQJuUhO8EaPUXBC4pE4rUEVuzGsm_LIx2aDoIHaNEs

As travel restrictions have been relaxed, this afternoon after lunch, groups of seminarians took advantage to go out to the New City. It was a chance to breathe some fresh air outside the monasteries which they have been enclosed for the past 8 weeks. And they were all surprised to find a public piano installed outside New Gate. Such pianos have been installed in the jewish part of the New City where people can go up and play. But to risk one at the Old City where arab vandals are proverbial and ubiquitous. Everyone is saying "Let's count the days before it gets destroyed". So much for optimism.

Apparently there's a heatwave around the region. Parts of the north have reached over 30 degrees. But in Jerusalem we've been having 28 degrees or lower. And nights are 16 degrees. So we didn't think there was a heatwave till international news reported it just now. Let's hope the winter rains come quickly.