You Have to Get Lost Sometimes...

Today is the Sabbath for the Muslims and we are not allowed out of the center before three because Muslims gather for prayers in East Jerusalem (where we live) and I guess it can become a little contentious if they go into the Israeli's parts of town. Interesting fact: five times every day, throughout all west Jerusalem a call to prayer comes on loud speakers or something and it is heard throughout everywhere. The first one comes on at fourish in the morning and it totally wakes me up. I am sure it is just something that I will get used to.

So, I went into the Old City with four other really great kids. We went in through the Damascus Gate, through a bunch of merchanty places that are part of the Muslim quarter, then through the Armenian Quarter, then into the Jewish Quarter. We got a little lost, but it was really fun. At one point, we saw a sign and looked up and we were looking at the Western Wall. It was truly amazing. Then, we headed back up to the center and got some dinner. It is about a 25 minute walk to the Damascus gate from the center, and in the sun, it is pretty hot. I am sure it only gets hotter from here.

Mom, I met the really famous olive wood nativity guy, but you guys better start working on bartering because they are pretty expensive and I hear you can talk them down. 

I am really excited to start seeing things with my professors and have them explain the significance of important things; that will just be so cool. I still cannot believe that I just wandered in the Old City today. It is just so amazing, so many incredible things occurred there and I cannot wait to see it all.
This is the view from my back porch:
So great!