Republic of My Sexist Heart

First heard this song on a boat up in Tripoli.  I liked it a lot, the melody was catchy and it had a lot of energy.  Come to find out (after translating it in class) that it's about how women should not want to do anything more than 'be the president of their man's heart'.  There's been a big to-do in Lebanon about it, but despite that I heard it EVERYWHERE while I was there.

The music video makes it a little better, because it's a man talking about his daughter, but I still don't like the message.

But I might have it on my iPod.

Defining mundane

If you've been reading the blog all summer, you might remember this entry.  Take a close look at the fourth and fifth steps and you'll know exactly what I'm doing this afternoon.  Told you my life was exciting.

My Comedy Hour

Just had my biannual appointment with my dentist, which I have to say is something I actually look forward to.  Allow me to explain why...

My dental hygienist should be a stand up comedian.  She is a forty-something mom who works part time at my dental practice, but I swear to you I spend most of my 45 minutes in the dentist's chair trying not to laugh too loud.  She doesn't talk about anything remarkable, but everything from her son's Korean lessons to her children's inexplicable adoration of the movie Julie & Julia makes me crack up.  Which is not something you usually find yourself doing in the dentists chair.

I would go to the dentist every week if I had the time.  No joke.  (Well, actually, they're a lot of them to be found there).

A Visual Metaphor for Lebanon

 

There are two types of cars here: expensive, new, and foreign and very old.  There really doesn't seem to be a middle in Lebanon, but the two live and drive side by side.  Some like to say it's charming...I guess time will tell.

Second place is the first loser which makes third place...

[This is dated, but I found it in my drafts and thought it was worth sharing]

No, it's obviously an important match and should be a good one.  Before the final happens I wanted to share the place where I watched the Netherlands game a few days ago, the Duke of Wellington at the Mayflower Hotel, with a group of rabid Dutch fans.  It was perfect.

As if the name doesn't give it away, the Duke of Wellington is an aspiring English pub decorated with some folksy touches.  It was decked out (not by the management, just well prepared fans) for the game:

A close up on my favorite decoration:

Another student in my program is from the Netherlands, and I'll probably be rooting for them purely because of him, my teams (USA and Ghana) left too long ago.

Home

I'm here.  It's nice.  I'll be back in California in four days.

If my tone didn't make it obvious, I'm a little bittersweet about my goodbye to Lebanon.  I feel like my time at home is an awkward limbo between my summer and my school year.  I'm happy to be here, and obviously I love seeing my parents and friends but for now I am spending as much time as I can with a certain somebody and looking forward to feeling more normal once I'm back in California.

I've got a few more posts coming up that I've found among my drafts, but that will about wrap up this blog.  Forever.  The end of an era approaches...

Remnants

Still finding evidence of my hospital stay on my skin.  What is it with medical tape adhesive that just won't be scrubbed off?

A Step in the Right Direction

One of many that needs to be taken, but bravo to the Lebanese parliament for this recent and much needed reform.

A Trip Downtown

My friend E and I (new E to the blog! E's a big letter in my life here apparently) walked downtown a few days ago and I thought I'd pass along a few of the sites that I don't think I've mentioned  before.  The Place de l'etoile, better known to me as Beirut's clock tower, has corporate sponsorship (click to enlarge if you can't see the Rolex logo):

Downtown Beirut is absolutely stunning, and I kind of wish I'd spent more time there.  Except than I remember why I haven't, the place is crawling with tourists and a place to walk around and shop, not chill.  A better view of the area around the clock tower, apparently called Nejmeh Square.  The Lebanese Parliamentary building abuts the square, and it's a great area to walk around in (no cars).

The reason E and I walked downtown was to visit the Virgin Megastore, which I didn't take any pictures of.  Perhaps I should have? A plaque in the store's elevator:

Honestly, it looked like the rest of the buildings in the downtown area to me (not that they're not beautiful).  If you're thinking, f*&@ you Anna, I have no idea what that means, too bad.

Alright, I've had pity on you. I went back through my old pictures and found some of the store in a shot when I was trying to get the soccer ball patterned dome of the building behind it. 

 

That's all for now, I need to go to sleep.

Coming up: a follow up with my surgeon, AUB museum, and possibly a rock concert.  I will blog about only two of those.   Guess which one will be omitted? (this blogger acknowledges the existence of a phenomenon known as tmi)

Italian and roses

I was about to leave this great Italian restaurant a few days ago when our waitress started laying out rose petals and roses on a table nearby.  Dying of curiosity, I asked her and she said a man had dropped off all this to propose to his girlfriend later that night.  Their table:

No, I did not stay and wait to see the proposal.  But I kind of wish I could have.

Bread Republic

A fantastic little cafe next to Radioshack on Rue Hamra in Beirut.  Great food, great staff, great ambiance.

My dessert (about a week ago, back when I ate food):

It's kind of hard to notice tucked away on Hamra, but Bread Republic is well known.  When I was there today, my waitress pointed out the man who does Nancy Ajram and Haifa Webby's hair and makeup (for us Americans that's like seeing that man who does Britney Spears' hair).  Exciting!?!

There's No Place Like Home

And I'm not quite there yet.  But I am happy to report that I am back 'home' at my dorm and resting comfortably.  Five days at AUH was more than enough, one can only wear a hospital bracelet for so long:

My favorite thing about the bracelet?  Thomas isn't my middle name.  It's my father's name.

Another thing I don't miss:

I enjoy being able to walk around  (a more accurate word for what I am able to do right now is hobble, but no matter) without a tether.

That's all for now, I've got some pictures from before my trip to the hospital for the next few days.  A romantic moment in Beirut, a Rolex clock tower, and a little culinary blogging.  Hurry up and wait for it.

My New Favorite Thing

Just an afternoon at the pool

A lovely friend of mine, E (not to be confused with any other E mentioned on this blog), invited me to the pool a few days ago.  This was my view for the afternoon:

As always, Beirut is a city of contrasts, and one of the nicest hotels in the city can't help but be surrounded by the realities of this city's history.  If you remember this post, you recognize that building in the background as the old Holiday Inn.  All was not non-repaired destruction from the civil war, a store down the street as seen from the balcony:

That was far from the coolest thing you could see from the balcony, front and center was the Rafic Hariri memorial (he was President of Lebanon until 2005 when he was killed by a car bomb in front of the hotel):

Haven't guessed the hotel yet?

I was so ready to go...

And then I wasn't.  I started experiencing pain in my lower right abdomen on Monday afternoon but ignored it.  It was still there on Tuesday morning and not getting any better, so I took advantage of the good medical facilities here in Beirut before my planned departure for Syria on that same day.  In my mind, I was going to walk into the American University Hospital (AUH), be called a hypochondriac and sent on my way.  How wrong I was.

After blood tests and a CT Scan I was told I needed surgery.  My operation was around 8 on Tuesday night, and it turned out to be much more complicated than they thought (you don't want to now the details, but what was supposed to be 7-10 minutes took two hours and the word perforated was involved).  The complications have led to a much longer hospital stay (5 days instead of 2), so I'll be here at AUH until Saturday. Tortuously watching little bits of food on TV and longing for something to be in my stomach besides sips of water, which is all I'm allowed for the moment.

Don't you wish you were me?

Honestly though, this is a great hospital and they're taking good care of me.  I'm going back to my dorm tomorrow (hopefully) and will update more often from there.

Please Don't Go

[This is a pre-scheduled post]

My trip to Syria should be well underway, and I've been getting a little nostalgic.  'Please don't go' is the title of my power ballad to Lebanon.  But then I realized I'm leaving Lebanon, not vice versa.  And then I'm coming back pretty soon.  Oh well.

Mike Posner also did a great song by the same name.  Take a listen:

If you've never heard of Mr. Posner, I'd highly recommend downloading his free mix tapes from iTunes.  Please Don't Go is from his first album, which comes out soon.  I've yet to hear anything else from his new album, but I'll definitely be looking it up once I've got internet that moves faster than a glacier.

Yella bye Lubnan!

Ancient Olive Trees

A brief stop on one my trips about two weeks ago was some old olive trees.  The sign said they're from 4000 BC, and our tour guide was telling us they're in the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest olive trees in the world.

They were, as one would expect old trees to be, quite knotty and kind of feeble looking:

If you're dying for more pictures of these old trees, check out this site.  There's a cool picture of the group of them there.

Still don't like your fruit, sorry ancient olive trees.

Only interesting if you're interested

Good article about the increasing number of Americans studying abroad in the Middle East.  Two (medium sized) problems:

1) Why is this article in the fashion and style section?

2) Many, many Arabic programs refuse to send their students to AUC (American University in Cairo) because it was moved out of the city several years ago.  They built a new campus outside of Cairo (I've heard about 2 hours with traffic) and it's like living on a compound, not living in Egypt, so to have the article focus so centrally on AUC is unfortunate and highly unrepresentative of some of the more established Arabic programs in the states.

The Origin of Lebanon

Not the people or the country, just the name.  According to my tour guide last weekend, Arabs came to Lebanon and were amazed by its snow covered peaks.  Wow, they thought, that looks just like labneh [a local dish that is basically white yogurt with chick peas in it], we shall call this Lebanon.

Who knows if there's any veracity whatsoever in any of that but it makes a good story.  Lebanon is named after yogurt.  Who knew?

Doing Much Better

For three reasons:

1) I just found this picture, which is just perfect.  Except for the stage pieces in the background, I can just imagine a little girl playing with the fountain a hundred years ago:

2) I got a new pair of headphones, ending a terrible week of silence.  Sorry eardrums, your reprieve is ovah.

3) My appetite has returned, along with my energy, and all is clearly on track for a clean bill of health for Syria.

To State the Obvious

This never happened.  For a number of reasons, the most important one being that I don't feel that up to walking around the city, so hiking 25 miles is a no go.  Unfortunately, a variety of other things I was thinking about doing today won't happen either, but I'm feeling much better and might (not completely sure yet) actually have an appetite.  So today's looking good, however, the sheer number of things to do, people to see, and places to go this weekend is looking a little overwhelming so blogging might not happen.  I'll do my best.

p.s. Did anyone else just think of a certain quote from this awesome movie? (hint: winners go home and...)

Dear Lebanon

We were friends.  And now we're not.  You know why.

A list of everything I've eaten today:
-half a piece of falafel

fml

More blogging when my health/sanity/happiness return, I promise.

Very Current

A great article by Rami Khouri (who came and spoke to SINARC) in today's NYT.  The money quote:

How to balance two worthy imperatives — justice and stability — is Lebanon’s great challenge today. A huge dilemma for the country is that most of the levers that will drive this process are in the hands of outsiders, including Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United States, Israel and the Security Council. Events in Lebanon, as always, mirror wider tensions and regional and global deal-making.

Sorry I've been such a terrible blogger lately, the end of school has been hectic but I promise more to come before I go to Syria.

It's the Little Things

If you watch TV, read the newspaper, listen to the radio, or generally don't live under a rock you're probably aware there's been a little excitement down south.  Over a tree.  Of course, I am not mocking the deaths of four soldiers but it all seems a tad ridiculous.  Incredibly tragic, but ridiculous.

The part of all of this that made me smile was while reading Ya Libnan, a great blog all about (you guessed it) Lebanon.  At the end of a lengthy article about today's events and the reactions of leaders around the world was an automatically generated ad:

Yes.  Yes, I am planning to go to Lebanon this summer.  Right after reading an article about escalating tensions with Israel.  Definitely a good plan.

Amusing ads aside (alliteration too), I am perfectly well.  Watching a certain speech on television right now and having a normal (my last!) week at school.

The South

 

Or the Caribbean? My trip this past Saturday went to Sidon and Tyre, two southern coastal cities in Lebanon.  More to follow on them, but for now I'll say the south of Lebanon is gorgeous.  Most of the beaches are covered in trash, but those that are not were absolutely stunning.  When I could smell it, the ocean breeze was just what the doctor ordered.  There is far more to see than the coastline, so get excited for a crusader castle, a soap museum (I know, more soap...but I'll be brief), lots of beautiful ruins, and a hippodrome.

Also saw a little bit of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) going through a checkpoint.  The troops I saw were from the Korean contingent.  Not going to lie, it was a little strange to see Korean soldiers all the way over here in Lebanon, but I imagine that is how people feel when they see American troops all over the world.

Musee Nacional

Also known as the National Museum, I went about a week ago to see the sights, and this is what I found.

Lots of mosaics:

But I saw a lot of those in Tunisia.  Lots and lots and lots.  The sculptures were a highlight, all very well preserved especially considering the conditions the National Museum has existed through.  Beautiful detail on a column:

The most memorable parts of the museum were it's idiosyncrasies.  I've seen lots of busts and sarcophagi, but I've never seen so many hippopotamuses (or hippopotami, depending on your preference):

They only came for a day, but it was an important one

This post is a tad belated as the King and the Syrian President were here on Friday, but it was a very important visit to discuss the STL (the UN's Special Tribunal for Lebanon) which has been in the news recently because its investigation is focusing on senior members of Hezbollah.  There wasn't too much coverage of the meeting here, oh, except for the live, daylong television coverage and the multitude of welcome signs (however not nearly as many as for Obama in Ghana last summer).

I'm not up on my Lebanese political blogs, but I do know one good one, Qifa Nabki.  It had two quality entries about the summit.  The first, a solid parsing of the positive changes in the dynamics between Saudi Arabia and Syria.  The second appears to confirm that the Saudis and the Syrians do indeed have a common interest in Lebanon's stability and both know that the STL has the potential to make Hezbollah feel cornered.  What does a 'cornered' Hezbollah result in?  Think 2006.  Bottom line, the Saudis are going to see what they can do about shutting down the tribunal.  There's a lot of rumblings in Lebanon right now, but here's hoping that everyone here wants peace and will talk before they start shooting.

Or at least wait until I leave in late August.  I kid, this is an incredible country with some serious problems,  but more than anything it deserves leaders who are invested in successfully coexisting with their rivals, not maneuvering for power regardless of the cost.

(As a side note, I watched a little bit of the live coverage at a cafe across the street from my dorm and I tried to engage the owners there in conversation about why the King of Saudi Arabia and the President of Syria were in Beirut, and they weren't telling me anything.  They definitely understood me, but were obviously convinced the blue-eyed girl standing in front of them would believe their categorical denials of any problems in Lebanon.)

Note to Self

Never let anyone I know climb Mt. Everest.  1 in 10 chance of dying is not an acceptable level of risk.

However, this article is inspirational and I sincerely hope the gentleman's trip goes off without a hitch.  If any country deserves a little bit of inspiration, it's Afghanistan.

As a side note, this could be an inspiration for all.  Despite the oft-heard cynicism, Afghanistan has the potential to be a model and inspiration for the rest of the world.  It was quite disturbing when I read recently that some people believed the US should abandon its mission in Afghanistan because nothing that happens there reverberates anywhere, while a success in Iraq would set an example for the rest of the Middle East.  I believe that inspiration for governmental reform can come from anywhere citizens of Middle Eastern countries decide.  But perhaps I'm not educated enough to know that discrimination against the Afghan people and their country is an accepted norm.