JERUSALEM TOUR: Baka

Look, immigrants. 
They believe they are smart, because they speak a better English than the average Israeli. The average Israeli thinks they are an idiot, because they speak Hebrew like an American.
People who live in Baka like to discuss books they did not write, because they do not live in Rechavia and do not understand Hebrew. Shai Agnon, who won the Nobel Prize for literature, lived here. Now Baka is the home to many Anglos who do not write, but do talk about Agnon; holding sophisticated conversations about Agnon’s translated writings. Many even discuss his transliterated writings. Even so, sometimes the root of the word gets lost in transliteration.
You may also find a large population of French immigrants, who decided to claim Baka as their neighborhood. Trying to occupy the Baka area with French. What all the immigrants in Baka who purchased homes have in common is that they all made money before they made Aliyah, and they only live here for three months of the year.
The New Oleh population likes living in these originally Arab built homes. A very respectable population of left leaning educated people can also be found here, as they believe that it is wrong for them to be living here. Greatly appreciated, as they feel very guilty for the real estate they purchased, and do not believe they belong here. Which is why the American left-wing population only lives here for three months a year. The rest of the year, this population apologizes for being Jewish, and for the survival of the Jewish people, around the globe.
If you are on Rechov Tziporah, you can see my friends Deb and Chagai.
Gad Street is where Ulpan Etzion was. The memories of moving to Israel and being treated like an immigrant from back in the 1950s, were the experience at Ulpam Etzion. I still thank them for giving me the sochnut, Jewish Agency mattress from 1950, which gave me the firsthand connection with persecution of the Jewish people. As that is what immigration is about- connection. The Ulpan Etzion, language study- absorption center experience, allowed for the immigrants to take a second look at their Aliyah and leave Israel as soon as they had a chance to analyze it and settle in. It was a reminder that Jews do not make Aliyah for financial reasons, unless they are from a non-English speaking country. Jews make Aliyah for chocolate spread, the only nutritional food we were served at ulpan, along with burekas.
One of the few streets to allow for unpaid parking, on both sides, Gad St. is also the home of a soccer pitch of solidarity with the Third World. As a show of support for the Middle East, the grass has never been mowed.
It is extremely hot today. No problem. Drink water. Do not worry. There are no public bathrooms here. If you are embarrassed to go in public, nobody will see you going in the grass of the soccer pitch. It is very hot now, but again, do not worry. In 3 hours it will start getting dark and you will be freezing.

The main street here is Beit Lechem, where you can find less people than Emeq Refaim, a couple of blocks down. To get the Derech Beit Lechem experience, let us go down to Emeq Refaim.