Random parades

That's what I get for going into town without checking whether there were any events going on. I got there easy, did some shopping for stuff like soap and sunglasses that I'm going to need in Egypt, then noticed Rehov Yafo (one of the main streets in Western Jerusalem)and St George Street were roped off and empty, obviously in preparation for a parade. Since the bus I need to get back to the dorms goes through St. George, I figured I'd wait around and watch.

It turned out to be a sort of parade that incorporated some Jerusalem organizations, like police, military, medical assistants, and others (I couldn't understand all the signs), and groups of people from a bunch of different countries, mostly European and North and South American, as well as Australia, New Zealand, and a few Oriental countries. They were dressed in their flag colors and handing out little flags and candy to the kids for Sukkoth. I imagine most of them were people who now live in Jerusalem, and they carried signs and banners proclaiming their support for Israel. I guess it was intended to be a kind of international solidarity parade.

I have to say, the American group definitely needed to get its act together. There were at least three big gaps in the middle of our procession, all disorganized and no singing or dancing or cool stuff. The Brazilians were way more fun. :)