New frontier

Damascus Gate

It's the last week of October. Time is flying by fast. In 2 months, 2026 will be over. We've past a quarter of the 21st century. It's the AI generation. Something we didn't even dream was possible in our childhood. There's a lot of discussion what education would be like in the next 10 years. No more teacher-student type education as we knew it but a different dynamic all together. It's a new frontier that we born in the last century will not live to see to its fullness, but fortunate to witness its birth.

My memory has been devastating and people were laughing at me for things that I forget. I can't remember what they were about but the past weekend I was sport for their jokes. AI might be the next generation of intelligence ... but it's doing nothing for mine.

Full Moon

Full moon at Damascus Gate

 It's the full moon tonight.  The sky is bright and lots of people are in the streets to enjoy the weekend. Lots of activities in the streets. At the nearby plaza is the weekly tango dance where lots of couples come to dance. Rabbi Lifshitz came to see me today and he said he and his wife are going first to another plaza for waltz before coming to dance the tango. Mind you he's 11 years older than I but he's a lot fitter. 

Rains are predicted for the whole of next week. We're very happy. Let's hope the weather forecasters are not wrong. Everyone's looking forward for a weeklong heavy shower. 

I had suffered a slip disc last week and went to hospital. More medicines and injections. 3 days in bed. Now I'm able to walk and sit again. But slowly. Doc told me the medicines I'm taking after my bypass have some side-effects that include muscular dystrophy. This would account for my weaker muscles and propensity to fall, twisting ankles and joints and getting slip discs. I must be very careful not to fall. Missing a step is my greatest fear. A fractured bone or hip will force me to be in bed, and that will start the mental deterioration. 

Autumn

Friday Bazaar before the rain

The rains have come. It didn't last very long each time ... but it made up for it with intensity. Heavy showers and strong winds lashing out for a couple of hours. Storm clouds blocking the sun for most of the day. The plants and trees in public areas enjoyed the soak down into their roots, and their leaves washed from the dust of a dry summer. And the air is a lot cleaner too. 

And not just cleaner but colder as well. Autumn is upon us. The muezzin starts his first call to prayer at 5.25am instead of 3.40am. The night air is humid and cool enough that people wear hoodies and sweaters. 

The Jewish month of holidays is over and school is back to routine. Buses and trains are full of students in the mornings and afternoons. Thursday and Fridays people crowd the supermarkets, suks (open air markets) and bazaars to shop for the next week before Sabbath starts. And tourists are returning by the busloads. While not like before, the momentum is picking up and the largest number of visitors are from central and latin America. 

And of course coming back to autumn, some trees have began to change the colour of its leaves. Less green, more brown and yellow ... the feeling that Advent is round the corner.

Feast

True to biblical prophecy, the rains have come after Sukkot ended on Sunday. It was a short burst of heavy shower but it left the ground very wet and the air very clean and cool. Now let's hope more rain will come.

St. Francis altar

We read from the news that many countries are facing floods and hailstorms. The El Niño effect is turning our lives upside down. Although a bit of flooding and hail won't hurt us. We've had a drought year and we really need rain to fill up the Sea of Galilee. We need rain!!!

Sunday was the feast of St. Francis. 800 years after this death. There were major major celebrations all around the world, especially in Assisi itself. We had our own little celebration ... 3 communities coming together for lunch. A simple fraternal moment that we all appreciated. 800 years may have passed, but the dream is still alive and the adventure continues with the next generation.

 I have not updated my blog for over a week and yesterday there were 7000 views. I'm being stalked ... or the algorithm is totally messed up. 

Quiet day

The Day of Atonement ended yesterday evening. It was as usual a very quiet day. Everything stops for 24 hours. Those who are not fasting and praying in the synagogues, do the customary thing that Israelis do .... ride bicycles on the highways. That's the only day of the year where no vehicles are on the highways and families cycle freely on all the roads. Others play at major crossroads, sit or chat where other days would be impossible for the traffic. It's that one time when citizens claim ownership of the roads and streets.

Konkani Mass was
standing space only

Because the New Year and Atonement and Tabernacles all fall on 3 consecutive weekends, we have to reschedule our weekend Masses so people could have transport to come and return home. So on Fridays and Saturday mornings, all our churches and Mass centres were packed with Masses in different languages. Literally standing places only. 

As school begins, many parents are asking for help to pay school fees, uniforms and books for their children. We've been trying to sponsor as many as we can. 

 Yesterday I had 9000+ views, today 7000+ views on my blog. Either the algorithm has gone haywire or I'm being stalked.

Pomegranates

Pomegranates

 The autumn harvest has begun. Olives and dates are ready for picking. Pomegranates signal the New Year which begins this coming Sunday. Other autumn fruit are also being sold in the markets. It would be very festive if not for the rising prices of these fruit. The drought and the halt of the desalination plants meant that water usage was greatly reduced, thus affecting the ripening fruit in the orchards. Water prices have gone up and this is passed on to the consumer.

After Sukkot in 3 weeks' time, we hope and pray for rain. We cannot bear another year of drought. Storms and flood will be inconvenient but a necessary evil. The need for water is essential.

I had a bad scare on Sunday when my hands and feet were very swollen, and I was disoriented and confused. Luckily two deacons were serving me the whole weekend and they had to guide me along the liturgies and walking to and from the mass centres. Everyone was afraid. On Sunday afternoon I realised I had forgotten to take all my medicines for 36 hours. That was the cause of my problem. They made me take every pill required in 24 hours and sent me to bed. My left hand and left foot are still swollen but not as much as Saturday. Now the seminarians are writing to me in the morning reminding me to take my medicines. The first lot of pills at 4am. After half an hour I need to eat something like a biscuit ... followed by a second lot of medicine an hour later. All that causes an acid reflux in the morning ... nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea every morning.

Vailankani feast

Shakespeare in the park

It's the High Holiday season. In 2 days the Jewish New Year begins, a week later it's Yom Kippur followed by Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles) that lasts for 8 days. Public transport and businesses will be closed several times. 

For us Chinese it'll be the Mid-autumn festival which falls on the 1st day of Sukkot. The Indians are celebrating the feast of Our Lady of Vailankani this weekend. It should be September 8th but our Catholic workers have a day off only during the weekends so the feast is transferred to this Saturday. I'll attend the Mass as I owe my bypass operation tp O.L of Vailankani. Our Indian sisters brought oil from the shrine and anointed me before my surgery. It's been a year since. 

As summer ends, a long standing tradition was revived for me ... attending the Shakespeare in the Park performance. It was stopped for several years due to Covid, then to the war. This year it performed The Tempest. Very enjoyable. But with my swollen hands and feet, it made standing for one and a half hours very trying and tiring. And there was the constant fear of vomiting and diarrhoea. Anyway I survived it ... and enjoyed the show.