Almond blossoms

Pink almond blossoms

 It rained and drizzled all day yesterday and into the night. The wind was very strong and the temp dropped by 8 degrees. It was very cold. I was working hard yesterday in my office for 8 hours to complete an important work so that I might be free on Sunday to rest. When I returned home at 6pm the weather was quite bad. I was wet ... so I decided to go and buy bread since I was already wet and won't make a difference if I went straight home. The bakery had just baked several trays of fresh muffins so I bought some to share with our sisters and students. And since I was already wet, I decided to walk another 1km to the only florist opened at that hour, to buy some flowers for our Madonna statue in our refectory. I usually put flowers on the statue every week with flowers from our garden, but since our superior threw away all the flowers in the garden and cemented it, I have to go out and buy them. Given this weather and season, chrysanthemums are prolific so I bought 2 stalks which cost 5 shekels each. Rather expensive but I bought them anyway.

White almond tree

Today the rains stopped and the weather was beautiful. The sun was up and it was 16 degrees ... nice and warm. A hoodie jacket could be worn but after a 1km walk uphill to the New City, a T-shirt would have sufficed. I went to buy food for Buddy and JJ, and enjoy looking around Jungle petshop. I haven't been there for almost a month now. My friend Eran was there and we chatted. Then I walked down the road to buy a sandwich because today being lunch, pork is served and I don't eat pork. I bought a simple and cheap submarine that I could eat in the afternoon just to fill my stomach.

Then I decided to go to Mamilla cemetery where the almond trees are blossoming. Unique to the cemetery are several almond trees that bloom white flowers instead of the common pink. They are remarkable as they sparkly in the Spring sunlight. It's a nice alternative to the dark and disturbing news of the war in Ukraine. There's been protests at the Russian embassy in Tel Aviv but there are also many russian jews who support Putin. By expressing support for Ukraine, Israel was indirectly warned by Russia when it issued a statement refusing to recognise Israel's control of the Golan Heights. And of course Israel's greatest enemy Iran is a Russian proxy. We're watching anxiously what will happen next.

Early day

Crossing the border at 5am

 It was a very early day for me. Woke up at 3am to tidy the room, feed the birds, throw the garbage and at 4,30am walked out to Musrara to catch the car to go to Bethlehem to celebrate Mass for the Caritas Baby Hospital sisters. They have Mass at 5.30am because it's the only time the community is together between day and night shifts. No priest is willing to go at that time so for most of the week the sisters have no Mass. The MC sisters in Bethlehem asked me to go for Mass at 6.30am and since I had to pass by Caritas hospital, I told the Caritas sisters I'd go and say Mass for them.

MC chapel at 6am

It's Friday so crowds of muslims were walking to the mosque at 4.30am. I was going in the opposite direction. Because I couldn't breathe well, it took me 35 minutes to get to the Musrara carpark ... which normally takes 5 minutes.Then it was a 20 car drive to the border between Israel and Palestine. I was quite tired mainly because I couldn't breathe well. After Mass at Caritas, it was a 15 min drive to the MC convent at the other end of town. The sisters cooked a lovely lunch for me to take away. Potato bhaji and prata. And they did 2 poached eggs for breakfast as well. It was so nice to eat warm food.

Got back at my office at 7am and started preparing for class at 10.30. I was tired ... yesterday I did alot of work and it's not finished. Fell asleep for half an hour the library doorbell was ringing. Students were coming in to study and borrow books. And it was raining and very cold.

It's been revealed in the news that just moments before Russia bombed Ukraine, Russia stated its refusal to acknowledge Israel's control over the Golan Heights which according to international law belongs to Syria which Russia backs. It was a diplomatic slap which unsettles locals here because only America (Trump) recognizes Israel sovereignty in the captured land. Israel had earlier supported Ukraine in the war. Now the northern border is shaky ... and the tension with Iran might worsen.

Rainy day

Jaffa Gate Plaza ... empty

 Russia's invasion of Ukraine is shocking and everyone here is shocked. There are thousands of ukrainian jews there who did not want to migrate to Israel last week though Israel encouraged them. Now Israel will have to find ways to save them ... they were told to escape toward Poland. The ukrainian president himself is a jew. Can Israel now trust Russia who has its grip in Syria? the repercussions in the Middle East is huge. We can only with anxiously to see the outcome. One thing seems to be everyone in the streets' opinion - neither europe or america will send troops in. It's all rhetoric and Russia will gets its way.

The sky seems to reflect the mood. Dark and gloomy and finally now drizzling. And the temp dropped quite alot ... about 8 degrees below yesterday's.

Israel announced Covid state of emergency will end on March 1st. So everything will be back to normal ... almost. The virus is still around. We just have to live with it. That means unvaccinated and vulnerable people like me still ought to wear masks and keep a safe distance from crowds. Self-imposed rules are the best.

Tension

Crowd jeering at police

 Tensions are high. An arab teenager was killed in one clash, and in another clash a mentally challenged man was roughed up by the police. The police did apologize but frankly I think protestors should not bring children and challenged people to clashes. It's not right to risk their lives in events that they don't understand.

Last night on my way home I could hear alot of shouting and jeering at Damascus Gate. I could see the police had stopped an arab teenager and brought him into the post. He was arguing with them and there was a tussle and the crowds outside began jeering and trying to climb in. I walked past them and the crowd of youths were continuing to provoke the police. As I walked far away, police reinforcements came and tried to disperse the crowd.

I guess I'll have to be careful going home from now on. No guarantees the streets will be safe.

22.2.22

Negative test

 Yes it's that rare calendarial occasion that occurs once in a 100 years ... 22.2.22 and wait till 20.22 tonight and 22.22 tonight. It'll be a fantastic moment to remember since it'll happen only once in your lifetime. 

I'm recovering from the anaphylactic shock. This morning the chinese sisters did reflexology on me. It was painful. Hope it'll help my breathing problem. It's not easy for me to do anything ... even lying down while I'm in such a situation. I lost my appetite now for 2 days. Nausea and can't eat. I drink alot though. 

Did the Covid self-test after 24 hrs of the first one. Result negative. That's a relief. Still I'm keeping away from crowds and wearing a mask and washing hands as much as possible. On March 1st Israel will open the country to normal life. Even unvaccinated tourists may enter the country if they're tested negative before the flight. And this morning our courtyard was crowded with pilgrim groups ... almost back to pre-Covid days. Our sisters tell me we have at least 1 booking for Mass a day now. That's really good news. On my way to work I saw tourists local and foreign sitting in restaurants drinking coffee and chatting. Slowly it'll be business as usual. Hopefully some other countries that impose draconian lockdowns learn from Israel ... you can't fight the virus no matter how technologically advanced your country is. This microscopic brainless life-form has brought the mightiest nations and people on their knees. So learn to live with it. We've done that with polio, TB, AIDS, flu and a whole lot of other obscure diseases. Nature is wonderful .. it knows how to bounce back. The body will adapt and protect itself.

The weather has been very good though. Sunny yet cool ... about 16 degrees today. I saw almond trees in the Musrara carpark blossoming. Beautiful ... it'll definitely warm up next week and then it's summer again. I'd love to take a slow walk around east and west Jerusalem and see the last traces of winter ... but my health is too poor right now to do it.

Anaphylactic shock

Sunrise today

 Last night I thought I was dying as I could not breathe. Oxygen level dropped to 92 and my heart rate was 103. I was having difficulty in breathing all day but it got worse during the night. I quickly called Fr Romeo, a student living on my floor and he quickly came to see if I needed to go to hospital. I thought I might have caught Covid so he quickly did the self-test on me. Turned out to be negative. 

Then I slowly remembered I had an anaphylactic shock on Saturday evening .... yes my memory is so bad I cannot even remember that. I had to go celebrate a funeral Mass and then had dinner with the family cooked by them. I guess among the food there were nuts because I started choking and had difficulty in breathing. Sr. David who was sitting next to me said "he's having an anaphylactic shock" and everyone was scrambling to get me into a car. They rushed me home where I took my medication (Epipen). Then I was slipping in and out of consciousness the whole night. Sunday morning and the rest of the day I was still very light headed and could not breathe properly. Then can the 2nd climax of the reaction in the night. Lucky Romeo responded quickly. It was about 10pm.

Now Monday afternoon I'm feeling alot better. I can breathe almost normally now and my oxygen level is back to 96. But I'm very exhausted because I hardly slept all night. 

Clash

Full moon over Palm Plaza

 Tensions have flared last night as the clashes at Sheikh Jarrah spilt into the Muslim Quarter of the Old City. And just now we heard that there were clashes again at Damascus Gate. The police had to close the City Gate and I think the Way of the Cross is cancelled because it lies directly inside the Gate. I might not be able to go home from work tonight if these clashes and blockades continue.

Meanwhile newspapers report that Lebanon had fire missiles into northern Israel and sirens were blaring for people to take shelter. It's all as I predicted .... once the weather warms up, violence will resume. Another newspaper reports that Israel bombarded southern Syria last night. This summer is not at all promising to be calm and serene. We had 2 years of relative calm ... thanks to Mother Nature and Covid ... and now that things seem to be back to normal, and so is the violence and  clashes.

Notre Dame in the sun

My asthma is not improving and everyone attributes it to the renovation works in 2 rooms in our house. The dust is horrible and so is the drilling. I feel alot better when I am away from home during the day. But even in the evenings I wear a mask when I'm walking in our corridor because the dust is not fully settled. Right now my diet is going fine, which is mainly vegetarian and fish/chicken on 2 days a week. Still I experienced bleeding last week and the nurses in the hospital advised to eat yoghurt and drink warm water. I guess it's working.