Angel

Carepack of thai food

 The past 2 days I was confined to bed because of a severe cold. The medicine made me very sleepy and I was totally out of action. It was devastating ... I felt very weak and dizzy. The only ones who had a good time were Buddy and JJ, who spent 2 whole days with me. I guess I haven't spent much time with them the past weeks, so they made up for it ... playing around my books and computer.

Thursday night I had a surprise visit from a parishioner from Jaffa, a very active and generous member of the community who heard that I was ill. She bought my favourite food from Thai House restaurant in Tel Aviv and brought them to me - Pahd Thai, Pahd Si Yew and she added some har gao (shrimp dumplings). It was a fabulous carepack which made me feel better. God bless her. She was on her way to Gethsemani where she volunteers to wash and iron the altar linen. And she travels 70 kms to do that. Everyone here knows her generosity., always coming to the aid of others. An angel.

Covid Delta infections were 2400+ yesterday. I'm getting nervous having to go out to buy medicines or bread. I'm not even feeling secure wearing a mask as the virus variant is said to be super-infectious. And with the heatwave hitting 35 degrees today, it's giving me a terrible headache. I'll need to rest extra this weekend and stay indoors, drink lots of fluids and keep taking my cold medication. 

Appointment fail

Bread vendor at Herod's Gate

For some strange reason I've caught a cold. Running nose, slight fever and congested head. And the heatwave has hit 35 degrees today. My nose is now raw from blowing into tissues. It actually hurts.

A typical event in Israel today ... I had an appointment with my doc at 9.30am. Arrived at 8.45am to join the queue for registration. When it reached my turn, I was told the doc isn't working in the morning. I asked why was I given an appointment in the morning when they knew he wasn't working. No answer. I was told he might come in the afternoon, and if I wanted an appointment at 4pm. I said yes ... I might come if he might come. Went home. Decided not to go at 4pm.

Bread vendor at Damascus Gate

Infections continue to rise above 2000 a day. Green Pass system will be in effect meaning all indoor events will require participants to hold a Green Pass or certificate to prove they had been vaccinated. Masks are required in all indoor activities. Things ay get stricter if the spike of infections is not arrested. And summer is a bad time as everyone is out and about because of the holidays.

Am going to rest early now as I'm feeling unwell.

Humanitarian run

Nablus City Centre

 Yesterday morning I felt very sick ... the whole night I was wheezing and had difficulty breathing due to phlegm accumulation, and I didn't have the strength to cough it out. That meant walking around the terrace for a couple of hours. I really wanted to sleep but if I did, I'd choke to death. 

In the morning, our students were telling me not to go to Nablus as I looked very ill. But I had to as there were medicines and food to deliver to the MC sisters for the poor. The journey is long and tedious, about one and a half hours through the mountains of Samaria. And the sun beats down relentlessly. The danger is falling asleep at the wheel as the road is long and the heat makes you drowsy. Once there in Rafidya, a suburb of Nablus city where the convent is situated, I left the bags of clothes, food and medicines with the sisters, chatted with the inmates in their care home and then celebrated Mass for them as they haven't had a priest in the city for some time. Then it was the long journey home at noon ... the sun being even more harsh. This is probably my last humanitarian run to Nablus this summer. I no longer have money to pay the transport to get and back. 

Fruit from the fields

City life in Nablus continues despite the spike in Covid Delta infections. Inoculation in the Palestine Territories is low and infection rates are high ... yet people don't wear masks, never keep distance and marketplace mentality dominates. It's frightening. Yesterday alone Israel recorded over 2000 new infections and talk is a possible partial lockdown. In Palestine there are no records of infections ... it's surreal ... like it doesn't exists. We'll see the consequence in the next few years.

Meantime the journey back also provided a view of life in the agricultural fields ... lots of fresh fruit and vegetables being sold along the street. And its very cheap as they're sold directly by the farmers. No middle-man, no franchise shops that take commissions. Life here is alot more simple. I saw lots of children and young people, working in car-repair shops, farming in the fields, serving in restaurants ... they will never see the sea, know what an airport is like, travel in a plane or train, so many things that we take for granted. They will die in their villages. And yet they are happy and content. Sure they'd like to enjoy all our modern amenities, but they recognize the fact that their situation is limited in opportunities, and they accept it. There's nothing much they can do when their govt doesn't do anything to better their lives and the Israeli wall surrounds them like an open air prison. 

I felt sad seeing all that, feeling all that. Very sad. 

High BP

Peaches in
Municipality
square

Well the projected rain never came, though the humidity did. At 5am the sky was overcast with rain clouds and the ground was wet with dew. I took a quick walk around the terrace as I had to cough up the phlegm choking me. I saw the full moon over the western sky and it was wonderfully bright and huge.

The weather has been great for people to go to the beach, but unfortunately people from the mountains and deserts who seldom if ever see the sea, should never swim. 7 people drowned in several different beaches in 24 hours. I just wondered why desert bedouins want to snorkel when they don't know how to swim. Even a 10 yr old boy was drowned. Terrible.

And down south, Gazans are flying incendiary balloons into Israel again. With the heatwave, many have caused fires in the dry fields and forests.

On a happy note ... I love the fruit on the trees this summer. There's actually a peach tree in Municipality Square full of fruit. And nobody stole them!

My blood pressure shot up to 170/97 last night and I felt really sick ... nausea, headache, dizzy. I immediately used my diabetes test kit to prick 2 fingers and lose blood. Buddy and JJ sensed something was wrong as they flew over on my shoulder squawking while blood dribbled down the wash basin. The bp went down to 150/85. But I kept myself lying in bed so the bp doesn't rise again. This morning it remained high and I felt unwell. I'll seeing another doctor this coming Thursday. I hope things might change from there.

Cool day out

Busker at Zion
Square

 It's been a cool break from the heatwave today ... it's very cloudy and a cool wind from the Mediterranean Sea is blowing inland. I took advantage of this to go for a long walk ... as advised by the doc to keep my sugar level and bp down. Romeo our Cameroon student came with me ... I enjoy chatting with him and he's always generous in helping me carry my stuff. Today I bought birdseed for Buddy and JJ, half a dozen green mangoes for the MC sisters in Nablus and we got croissants from a french patisserie on our way home. That was a 2 hr walk covering 4 km. And I didn't feel tired or suffered from breathlessness, due to the cool weather. I really liked it. I didn't feel sick at all.

Last Friday was rather tense as it was the last day of Eid al Adha. Thousands of muslims entered the Old City to pray at the Al Aqsa Mosque, and police were at every corner. Metal barriers were set up at our street (as usual) to control the crowds ... but I think more to separate the muslims and the jews going to the Wailing Wall should there be a clash. Today police are noticeably less but they still are very strict and stopping young muslims and checking their details. Very intimidating.

Out in the New City though, life seems to be normal. Buskers are out performing and cafes are filled with people. Though the covid infection is over 1000 a day, people still feel confident after the successful vaccination programme. I still wear my mask though ... not taking any chances.

Healthwise my bp continues to be around 150/85 which is high for me. I'll have to consult some other doctor to get it reduced as it makes me dizzy all the time. And I have terrible headaches all night.

Rain in summer?

Sleeping cat in the heatwave

 The weather has strangely turned very humid ... especially at 4 and 5am. There is so much due the ground is wet by 6am ... and the grey clouds blowing from the Mediterranean Sea is cool and damp. Rumour says it'll rain tomorrow. I think unlikely though it has happened before ... drizzle in summer.  It'll be a welcome break from the heatwave that's overwhelming us.

I was at the doctor's the past few days, doing tests. The doc thinks he might know what's causing my huge fluctuation in bp. Anyway he's given me a pill to take for 5 days and I must monitor my bp twice a day during that time. Let's see what happens next week.

I'm so much to stay home and rest but some work just must be addressed ... especially the financial kind. Lots of payments for books and binding ... it's never ending. I just want to yell "Give me a holiday" ... because everyone else is already away for theirs ... and I'm still stuck with work. I am mentally and physically exhausted. One redeeming factor today was a visit from Fr. Gabriel the Eritrean chaplain for Geez Rite Catholics. He's a good friend and we can chat ... well mainly he needed help for some things so we discussed possible solutions before he talks with his patriarch in Ethiopia. We take turns celebrating Mass for the Eritrean Catholics here in Jerusalem.

Today our sisters cooked chicken curry with a pack of Nonya Curry spices from home. No coconut milk here ... but it tasted wonderful all the same. I didn't have breakfast or lunch so rice and curry at 6pm was a great meal.

Nablus visit

Bringing donations
to Nablus

 Yesterday morning was rather busy. I had to bring donations of clothes and food to the MC convent in Nablus. It's far and yesterday's car ride took 2 hours. Getting out of Jerusalem was a nightmare because yesterday was the 1st day of Eid al Adha - the muslim feast recalling Abraham sacrificing Ishmael (not Isaac). Over 100,000 muslims from around the country converged into the Al Aqsa Mosque and our streets were packed. All the roads around the Old City were blocked with tour buses bringing muslims from all over the country. And police were everywhere.

But once out of Jerusalem, the streets were very empty ... and the only road that leads from Jerusalem to Nablus across the Samaritan mountains was easy to travel. In Nablus, I saw for the 1st time, the city empty. All shops closed. All businesses closed due to the Eid. It was easy to reach the convent. I had brought along our 2 sisters working in our kitchen as they have never been here. We had Mass at the convent and then a visit to Jacob's Well where the parish priest - an old greek orthodox - showed us around and explained many things that I did not know. He actually painted all the icons in the church himself. The well is ancient and believed to be dug by Jacob himself ... and later Jesus met the Samaritan woman here.

At Jacob's Well

Back at the MC convent, the sisters cooked lunch for us which was always very nice. Then we left for Mt. Gerizim and visited the ancient sanctuary of the Samaritans. The weather was scorchingly hot at 35 degrees or more but there was a strong cool breeze in Samaria. We got home by 3pm ... we started at 8am - and I was very tired so I slept through the rest of the evening.