Put It In the Soul of Everyone

So I mentioned in my e-mail that yesterday I went out for walk and got lost and then magically found. Here's the story of exactly what happened:

(Pause to relish the fact the the coffee shop I'm sitting in right now is playing "Holding Out For a Hero." I'm pretty sure the album currently being play is called Best Songs From Soundtracks of Amazing Eighties Movies.)

So I decided I would walk from where I'm staying to Ben Yehuda Street, which is a pretty famous shopping street in Jerusalem that tourists like to visit. There wasn't a particular reason to aim for there, except that I figured I'd recognize it when I got there and it seemed like a good distance to see a lot of the city, get a decent walk in, and still be able to walk back. Maybe an hour each way. Ok, so I'm off, and pretty soon I get stopped and asked for directions, miraculously in English. I actually had a map and was able to help the girl find where she needed to go. I then proceeded to get lost again and again and again.

The first time I got lost, I found myself on top of Mount Zion, looking down onto the Old City walls. The second time I got lost, I found myself next to what I believe was the Jaffa Gate. (There are a few gates, all of which have names, that serve as the entrances to the Old City. I believe if you enter through the Jaffa Gate, you could walk straight through the Armenian Quarter to the Kotel (the Western Wall).) I'm posting a couple of pictures of what I could see from there soon. The third time I got lost, I got really, really lost and decided to give up and head back in the direction that I thought might lead back to Baka, where I'm staying. At that point, I found myself on Ben Yehuda Street. I've since looked at a map and still don't really know how that happened.

It was a pretty amazing walk for my first day and, in the end, with numerous stops for water and admiration, I think it took about 3-4 hours. After that walk, I'm probably just going to take it easy until I start classes on Sunday, at 7:30 am. That's going to be an interesting transition after the 5pm-1am shifts I was working when I left New York just three weeks ago.

Aaaaand they're playing Karma Chameleon. Sweet.