Juxtaposing in Jerusalem

Spent the past couple days exploring the sites in Jerusalem, which is again, a case of sensory overload. Did the walk-through the city wall, peaking out from where archers once stood, marching up and down steep stairs zigging and zagging around the old city. More juxtapositions: schools literally coming out of these ancient walls. Watching kids at recess playing handball, the ball bounces high over the fence onto a roof extending from the city wall. One kid actually climbs what must have been a 12 foot speared-fence to get the ball -- you'd think there might be teacher or guardian there. And this wasn't a rag-tag school, they wore uniforms and situated in some pretty prime real estate for what I assume was a religious school. Walked through the Arab market which turned out to be a very pleasant experience, the smell of cumin will forever be etched upon my olfactory memory. On Thursday had my nephew's bar mitzvah at the Kotel (Western Wall), so much going on there, you sit there shell-shocked. It's like there's this bar mitzvah industry happening there, we must've witnessed no less than 20 other ones from a myriad of different cultures: Ethiopian, Yemenite, Central Asian, Russian, Moroccan, French, Hasidic, a microcosm of the modern Jewish nation.  Each culture with their own twist, but most singing the same songs. Trying to evade the sun under the weenie umbrella over our bimah, (basically the stand where lead the prayers from and read from the Torah). Dehydration city. Trying to keep an eye on my son who was busy running around collecting the tossed candies from different bar mitzvahs. Lost sight of him at one point, panic crept in. Felt like an exotic for the first time in my life as non-Jewish tourists filmed me in my religious garb participating in the service. A seemingly regular type of guy suspiciously wanders about with a rifle slung around his back. He is wearing no type of identifying official clothing, just a sweaty guy with a scowl and a yarmulke. Meanwhile I'm the only one who seems to notice. The soldiers scattered about certainly don't seem to pay attention. After the ceremony which included a little horah and some off-key singing, we climbed up more steep and twisting stairs to a restaurant overlooking the wall and shared another festive meal. But don't get me on the food here, I can barely fit into my clothes and am too self conscious to even pose for pics. (On top of that I broke a tooth last night while flossing, a harsh reminder of the realities I must face when I get back home)...With that I will sign off and try to get a little bit more of the sleep which has been eluding me here...