From Cabbage to Politics

Until now the only way I’ve eaten cabbage is boiled, usually on St. Patrick’s day or with Polish sausage. But I’ve joined the cabbage leaf revolution! I first had it raw with Tabouli, a traditional Lebanese salad made primarily with burghal (type of wheat) and chopped parsley. Instead of eating with utensils, we simply broke off a piece of cabbage leaf and scooped up the salad with it.
I recently discovered a second use for the refreshing cabbage leaves. Because many dishes come with types of bread, and subsequently a high intake of carbs, I decided to use cabbage leaves as an alternative to bread. Instead of a turkey sandwich on white or wheat, change it up by wrapping your meat and extras in a leaf of cabbage. 100 grams of cabbage, which I am assuming is about 3 big leaves, adds up to 24 calories instead of the 80-100 for 2 slices of bread. And its surprisingly tasty!

So – this is what you’ve all been waiting for: my views on the Lebanese presidential elections! I’m 98% positive that none of the local news channels are covering the complexities of the elections and I would be surprised if BBC world news was covering it at length. So, let me give you a run-down.

In Lebanon, the parliament elects the president – not the people. Of course citizens vote for their parliamentarians, but they have no direct say in the election of the President. This is not to say that it is a silent process. On the contrary, the elections have been successful in fomenting emotions. In day-to-day events it is most apparent in the lack of political advertisement and propaganda.

Most political tension comes from the disagreements between the pro-Syrian (March 8 coalition) and anti-Syrian (March 14 coalition) camps. Syria occupied Lebanon for 29 years until withdrawing in 2003 when riots broke out after the assassination for Former PM Rafik Hariri. Syria was accused of being involved with the assassination, although it strongly denied the allegations. The resulting rift was a division between those parties that continued alliances with Syria and those opposed to Syrian interference in Lebanese politics.

Current president, Emile Lahoud, is pro-Syrian. His term was extended for three years after pressure from Syria. The decision to extend president Lahoud’s term was heavily criticized by anti-Syrian politicians, and now the anti-Syrian groups are ready to elect someone uninfluenced by Syria. This desire to elect an anti-Syrian president may be blocked by the ambitions of the pro-Syrian camp and Syria itself.

Election day was set for Sept. 25, but House Speaker Berri postponed until Oct. 23, when and if the camps could settle their differences. This decision came after months of dispute over how the elections would precede. In Lebanon’s constitution the first round of votes will only result in a president if it passes with a 2/3s vote. All other rounds of votes, if they do not yield an agreement, can pass with a simple majority. However, the issue now is not over the actual voting in elections, but the needed quorum - the amount of parliamentarians in attendence to begin elections. The constitution does not stipulate if a 2/3s quorum or a simple majority quorum is needed to begin the election process.

Pro-Syrian Berri proposed that a 2/3’s quorum is needed and the Majority party welcomed dialogue but has not agreed to any required quorum. However, anti-Syrian groups boycotted the election and parliament was consequently lacking the needed quorum. There has been no agreement on a unity government, a compromise candidate or on quorum. For these reasons the elections were postponed until next month.

During the dispute over the issue of quorum, there was talk of the two camps agreeing on a compromise candidate. The problems with the compromise candidate include the lack of both camps publicly stating what their qualifications for the president are, and not officially putting forth candidates with a platform or a vision.

The prospect of compromise seems bleak, and it will be interesting to see how the situation develops as the Oct. 23 comes closer. For now the camps continue to accuse each other of trying to pull a political coup and not respect the wishes of the other. The deadlock is setting the region up for violent eruption, or possible intervention by another state – namely Syria. Although this is highly unlikely, I do not think that Syria is willing to let a staunchly anti-Syrian candidate be elected thereby limiting Syria’s influence in Lebanese politics. If Lebanon seemed to be dissolving into sectarian disputes, I’m sure Syria would love to take on the responsibility of “stabilizing” the country. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that and that the international community keeps giving Lebanon the support it needs to get past these petty disputes.

Whew! I tried giving the least confusing run-down possible, but if anyone has questions just let me know! If anything I will provide links to new sources giving the best views of the crisis. If you want to read up on it the Daily Star always has great coverage!

Moving on, Alex and I went out to a club last night called White. It’s a restaurant/bar/nightclub. We sat down with some Lebanese and American friends for drinks. Then we joined in on the dancing when the music picked up. It was a beautiful place – with no roof because it was on the rooftop of an eight story building. It was fun to get all dressed up and stay out all night!

Other than that our lives have been pretty standard. Alex started classes this past week – econometrics is already kicking his ass. But he’s doing great and studying so much!

Today is all about relaxing and preparing for the week ahead! I’m getting ready to make brownies – always a treat – and Alex and I are going out to dinner and we’re having Lebanese cuisine! Hope to hear from everyone and all the interesting things happening outside of the Middle East. We miss home and everyone back in the US!

Homework

My schedule has become as such: getting up at six in the morning, working until one-ish, studying, napping, class and then trying to fit in more studying before I collapse from exhaustion. Alex and I are still working on finding time for each other and to go out and have fun, but we have the weekends. Most importantly I’m relieved that I am now on a schedule because for a while I thought I was going to have more free time (which also means time to slack off) than I preferred.

The speed with which Alex and I were able to settle in and begin enjoying our time here is astonishing. We, however, did not escape a bout of travelers’ blues. Our antidote was finding a huge market -ironically right up the street from our apartment – finally getting out with some new friends to a jazz concert, beginning to cook meals and not eat out everyday and clearing up some issues at AUB. The small period of frustration we went through has come and passed. Thank God!

So what’s taking up all my time? During the week my schedule is pretty packed (refer to first sentence) due in part to the editing job I began this week. I have not encountered any significant problems thus far. My only editing experience is from high school and college and sometimes I feel that my editing skills are inadequate. Although I do not lack confidence in my writing abilities, I found that some of my changes do not make it to the final copy.

When editing I try and respect the writer’s style, maintain consistency throughout and make everything as concise as possible. However, I get just one chance to go over the page I’m editing because I have such a strict time limit. The first couple of days I came home upset from frustration.

I want to be better and quicker, so I’ve been spending a few hours everyday studying the art of editing. I put together a few note-cards with common names of state leaders, etc, so I wouldn’t waste time asking the writers if they themselves checked the names. Furthermore, I am refreshing myself on vocabulary, tricky words to look out for, proper punctuation and subject-verb agreement. It is like taking a middle school English class, all over again. But hey, I’m doing my homework.

While we’re on the subject of homework, my Arabic classes are intensifying! Our class was cancelled last Thursday because of the assassination of MP Antoine Ghanem, but we were right back at it on Monday. Moving onward from simple greetings and requests, our professor decided we were ready to start conjugating verbs in the past tense. Memorizing the vocab has been simple and up until now I did not have to put in much effort.

On Saturday Alex and I took a trip to the South of Lebanon – only 12 miles from Israel! The name of the town is Tyre, known as Soor in Arabic. First, we visited a site of famous Greek/Roman/Byzantine/Egyptian ruins. Near the end of the site, which happened to be at the beach, a man carrying a wooden cigar box approached us with some “historical” information (Howard, you are going to like this story). He seemed friendly enough but, of course, he had an ulterior motive.

Soon enough, he had us in a conveniently secluded spot in the ruins showing us artifacts he dug up out of the ocean. His treasures included currency from three different empires and carved dolls. Claiming to need money for his child, he ran down a list of reasons we should buy them. If Alex wouldn’t have been there I probably would’ve bought the whole cigar box. I loved the thought of owning a little part of history. Alex, on the other hand, was the reasonable one.

Not only was he reasonable, but he informed me that there are many international laws against selling and buying such artifacts. I had no idea! I agree that the trinkets could have been fake and that they probably should be reserved for display at museums, but illegal to buy? One can buy famous art, surely a historical artifact, and it is not illegal. Needless to say, I didn’t come home with the Greek coin of two people making love!

The rest of our trip was browsing through the souks (little shops) and swimming in the Mediterranean. The beaches were actually sandy and less polluted. It turned out to be a great day! Oh and there were flags of Nasrallah all over…it really is Hizbullah land!

I’ll have to wait until my next blog to talk about the Lebanese presidential elections and other things on my mind. This is about the time I collapse from exhaustion! Good night!

Green

Heavily-industrialized and overwhelmingly populated, Beirut should have a comprehensive and well-equipped recycling center. All the reconstruction projects and aims to make Lebanon more attractive would lead one to believe organizations exist to take more care of the area. Yet, other than the hired trash collectors on Rue Hamra, there are no signs of initiative to clean up the highways and beaches.

Souk el-Tayeb, the kitchen workshop/open market-place I took Alex to for his birthday, is making an inspirational move to motivate others to take trash to recycling centers. It is one great move in the right direction. Their organic marketplace is small, yet surely growing over time, and is showing that buying from organic farmers is only slightly more expensive, if at all.

Furthermore, the directors put out pamphlets (made out of recycled paper) detailing who sells at the marketplace and how they are trying to be eco-friendly. Any buyer had the opportunity to bring their own bag to shop with or buy a bag made out of organic materials so to not waste plastic and paper bags.

This month’s Souk el-Tayeb newsletter focuses on recycling initiatives. Unlike many Americans, who enjoy free or low-fee recycling, Beirutis do not have the incentive to partake in such programs. Currently two universities have published work on their recycling program, and five companies boast their recycling incentives.

Lacking a central recycling organization makes it costly and inefficient for the average individual. Although gas is cheap in Lebanon, facing traffic or having to pay a cab fee (if the taxi driver knows where one of the few recycling centers are) can make the trip time-consuming and costly.
Recycling in America, and other developed countries, are standard. An organization promoting recycling awareness is not considered particularly moving or revolutionary; it is just considered part of the “green” movement. In Lebanon, however, such a movement is inspiring.

Although Lebanon is considered one of the most advanced Middle Eastern states, she is not at the same level of development as some countries with advanced recycling initiatives. The effort put forth by the handful of universities and businesses is, with luck, the beginning of a national trend. As Lebanon comes closer to political and infrastructural stability, perhaps the country will be increasingly green.

So for my news! First, Alex and I have befriended another American! Greg, from Pennsylvania, is a Political Science grad student. On Monday night we all went to an American-style diner (meaning they serve breakfast 24/7) and had our biggest meal since being here. It was absolutely refreshing!

Just as exciting is my trip to the laundry-mat. I was finally able to get some of my clothes washed in an actual washing and drying machine! I’m not sure if I can relay the significance of this via my blog…but it was a huge deal! I felt 1,000 times better after getting my clothes cleaned.

So, biggest news of all! I had an interview today, which I spent the last couple of days briefing and studying for. Monday I will be starting as copy editor of The Middle East Reporter. I saw a posting on AUB campus for a “Native English speaker with an interest in Middle Eastern politics.” I also have an opportunity to train for journalism. It is only a few hours in the mornings and I’m exhilarated for the experience.

If you want to check out their website, it is:
http://www.middleeastreporter.com/

Well, I’m off to the beach with Alex and Greg! Hope to hear from everyone soon!

Never Thought I'd Say This...

Today we took a trip down to the Sûrete-General to ask a few questions about residence visas. Not surprisingly we hit a dead end and Alex and I will have to wait a few more days to get any questions answered.

While we were there we stopped off at Agence universitaire de la francophonie (AUF) just to look around. It is a small campus with a fresh looking central building and a small green. The green must have only been 75 ft by 100 ft. However small, it is the biggest I’ve seen since being here.

Being directly under the sun and nowhere near lush, I had no desire to take out a book and lounge around on the green. But I couldn’t help feeling a wave of homesickness.

Don’t get me wrong – I like the food, the people are great and I’m excited about all the opportunities. My frustration may be a result of all the inconveniences we’ve encountered our first week here.

My awareness of discomfort grew exponentially when I saw the grass. Since leaving New Jersey I haven’t missed the simplicity of being surrounded by state parks and trees – but today it really hit me. I guess I miss the easy life of Americans. For example – we have found only one self-service laundry-mat in Beirut. The rest are dry cleaning services that charge about 1,000 lira per item. The conversion is, roughly, 1,500 lira equals 1 USD. That may not seem like much, but when I have twenty items to wash it comes out to $13.20.

The self-service laundry-mat is much cheaper but it’s a little bit of a walk and it would still be costly if we used it every week. Besides the laundry problem, supermarkets are not the easiest things to find. Also supermarkets are hardly places where you can get anything you need. Moreover, everything except clubs, cafes and restaurants close by 6pm.

Maybe I’m being too impatient! The difficulty in getting necessities has just caught me off-guard. I prepared myself for harassment because I’m a woman and an American, potential violence, the chance of getting sick because of the water or food, and really everything else except this.

There is one upside, I guess. I’m definitely learning a lot about patience. I’m trying to be a bit more creative. I will probably never get the hang of hand-washing clothes but I’m starting small.
In better news, I was able to find a good knife set and collection of cooking ware. So things aren’t that bad!

Even better news! I’m employed! I know I told everyone that I had no plans to work while studying, but I just couldn’t resist. On our third day in Beirut I was reading the Daily Star and came across the employment section of the classifieds. I figured a little extra cash wouldn’t hurt any. But its not just any job. I’m employed 2-3 hours a week to have an informal English conversation with a native Arabic speaker learning English. In return I will also get to practice my Arabic. It seems ideal!

Oh! I almost forgot. Alex’s birthday gift on Wednesday night was a total hit! A couple of weeks before we left I did some internet searching and came across a kitchen workshop called Souk el-Tayeb. Well, it’s actually an outdoor market that does kitchen workshops on the side. Kamal, who runs the workshop, told me initially that they had not done them since last summer’s war but that it would be a good time to restart it. I am sooo grateful because it wound up being the best experience of our trip so far.

The house we were doing the workshop was in Batroun, just a couple hundred feet from the beach. It was a beautiful French colonial style house with a wonderful garden. The workshop consisted of cooking with the chef (Kamal) and then a wonderful dinner. We prepared Fish Kebbe (Barghul and Fish stuffing over spiced onions and veggies), traditional Tabbouli, baked broccoli, and homemade Babba Gnanoush. Then they had a cake for Alex’s birthday.

Alex had so much fun and it was definitely worth the bus and workshop fee. During our little cooking session, Kamal told Alex he was doing a great job cutting and such. Maybe now I can get him in the kitchen more often!

After 20 Miles of Looking for an Apartment...

The couple weeks before the big move to Lebanon, I had trouble finding the motivation to study. However, one week in Lebanon and I’m well on my way! I began Arabic classes at the American Language Center (ALC) this Monday. The ALC’s location is perfect as it sits directly in front of AUB’s main gate.

I have the class from 7pm-8pm, Monday through Thursday. That may not seem like much time in class, but it is a handful. We are beginning with spoken Arabic instead of MLA and it is exactly what I need. Even between the two of us, Alex and I found it hard to hold a small conversation with a native Lebanese. We thought that it might be dialect; instead I found out that we were only learning classical Arabic in America. The people we speak to on a regular basis may not be as educated and do not understand what we are saying.

Although learning classical Arabic will be a must if I want to be proficient, I must say that this program has helped me very much even after two days of class. Everything I learned in my two years of Arabic at Seton Hall has been corrected, down to the pronouns and numbers.

I’m putting in a couple hours of study everyday. I’m glad that I’m not registered for classes this semester so I can devote plenty of time to learning the language. I will be auditing a class at AUB which I’m hoping to be intermediate Arabic. I planned to audit at Haigaizen University but AUB confirmed that I do not have to apply to audit, the fee is less, and it is much closer to our apartment.

Speaking of apartments, we finally found one and it is furnished! It’s actually a hotel, but they gave us a great long-term rate. We have a balcony overlooking Rue Hamra (pretty much the busiest and most popular street near AUB), air conditioning, satellite TV, AND (you won’t believe it) maid service twice a week. We landed the room for $550 a month (not including internet) and everyone is telling us that it’s a great deal. After apartment hunting for a couple days I definitely believe it.

Also after apartment hunting I noticed that the price to rent a room is very high. Not as high as New York City, or South Orange for that matter, but our apartment is situated in a place similar to Newark with high prices. However, material goods are less expensive unless you are shopping at boutique-y places. I do not understand the parody between apartment prices and the price of goods. But then again, I do not claim to be an economics expert.

Hope everyone is well!

PS) Tomorrow Alex and I will travel to Batroun in the north for Alex’s surprise birthday gift. I will let everyone knows how it goes and post those pictures along with the others I’m still trying to upload.

Mayhem

This is my first posting since landing in Beirut and it has been difficult to start. I’ve sat down with the intentions of beginning this blog at least four times, but each adventure leaves me determined that my former thoughts were just too boring.

Brace yourself, this may be a long posting! First, the flight itself was a riot. Before we even boarded the passengers were being “processed” by security only a few steps away from the door of the plane. Alex and I were through the line in no time, but it must have been dehumanizing for the people who were being interrogated about who they were with, what they were doing in America, and how much cash they had on them. I understand that America needs to protect itself, but these people were of Arab decent and leaving the country – not coming in.

On top of that, the security guards (two burly looking women) would pull aside any men having trouble speaking with them. The language barrier was enough to land them in a room on the other side of the hall. I just have trouble believing it is the same for travelers on flights to Europe.

Of our 10 hour flight to Queen Alia Airport in Amman, Jordan, I slept for 8. Therefore I sum up my first time on an international flight as very enjoyable. The remaining two hours I gazed out of my window at the Greek Islands, the terrain of Turkey and the deserts of Israel and Jordan. It was beautiful and very different.

I was afraid Lebanon would be just as much desert and barren land. I was definitely wrong. As we flew into Beirut at night, all you could see was ocean on one side and then mountains upon mountains of city lights. It was absolutely breathtaking. It was apparent that Beirut was very much developed – we didn’t even know the half of it.

Getting out of the airport was pretty painless – getting to a hostel was a different story. We had a decently easy time of it, but there were just a few bumps along the Talal’s New Hotel, where we were scheduled to stay, misunderstood our intentions so we had to stay at his friends. Not bad – except for the little run-in I had with a soldier.

After a couple of minutes of standing outside while Alex spoke with Zaher, the owner of Talal’s, I guess my non-English speaking driver was bored with me and left me in the middle of the road. I was standing on the sidewalk in a completely new country at eleven at night, so I decided it might be better if I stepped back into the car.

Too late. A Lebanese soldier saw me from across the street and started to walk toward me. He was dressed in camouflage and had a huge gun! I was terrified! Not really for my life, but that he was either going to harass me because I was alone or was just going to flirt with me. Sure enough, he rounded the taxi and was standing right in front of me. Luckily, or maybe unluckily, he did not speak English or French so we could not converse very well. Five long and extremely awkward minutes passed before Alex came back out with the driver and we drove away from the armed soldier.

Since then, Alex and I have spent hours looking for an apartment for the school year. We haven’t had much luck because the apartments are either too expensive or they are really run down. Walking to different districts in Beirut and getting to know the areas has been our other endeavor. So far we have toured one-seventh of Lebanon’s coastline, from the West side of Beirut to Junieh.

On a tour that we took the second day in Beirut, we went to the Jeita Grotto and rode the famous Telefrique. Jeita Grotto is basically a cave with built in stairs and platforms to travel up the cave in. At the lower Grotto they had a boat ride. I’ve never been in a cave so it was a wonderful experience. It was beautiful inside and the boat guide gave us a little history, pointing out statues, fossilized animals, and Phoenician letters.

The Telefrique was basically a ski lift up one of the mountains. It began right on the coast and traveled up to the top of a mountain where it is believed that the Virgin Mary meditated and prayed. The higher we rose the more of Lebanon’s city and coast we could see. I’ve never seen anything like it. The sun shone through clouds and lit up entire cities while surrounding cities would be in the shadows.

Besides doing the touristy stuff, Alex and I have just been trying to get used to the area and the lifestyle. I’ve noticed a couple of things about Beirut. First, the drivers are crazy. Our first trip in a cab, from the airport to the hostel, the driver completely ignored the dividing lines on the street. People wove in and out of traffic at will, and do not seem to follow any set rules. I thought New York and New Jersey drivers were bad, but they don’t even compare. There are many people on scooters and they like to drive the wrong way down one way streets. I don’t think I’ll even drive here…ever.

As I stated earlier in the blog, there is much development in Beirut. Even the shores are under construction. There are apartment buildings everywhere, and still they are building more on every other street. I estimated that 20% of everything we see in Beirut is under construction. And 50% of the other is very run-down. Some of it is reconstruction going on from the wars, last summer and beyond. I’m not sure about the other construction projects. One would think that with all the rebuilding going on, it would be an incentive to create jobs but there are still many many men sitting outside of shops everyday. Something just seems to be a little off.

Last observation is the safety level. I know many of you were worried about us, and we were right there with you. But we have not had any problems during the day or at night. Although there are soldier checkpoints and roadblocks at almost every street corner, there has not been one sign of rioting or violence. So far the Lebanese people seem very peaceful and want to keep it that way. The only time we ever encountered anything of the sort is when an apartment owner in Verdun told Alex he could not house us because of politics.

So, one more funny store before I finish for the night. The first night Alex and I stayed here, it was in a hostel for $22 per night. We thought that was pretty expensive and looked around the next night for something better. We found one called Pension Home Valerie, for $8 a night. Significantly cheaper but significantly shittier. We went from a room with a nice bed and window to a room no bigger than a closet with no window. The opening in the wall has a thick vinyl cover. The room has a couple of beat up pieces of furniture, and one disgusting bed (which we discovered bed bugs in this morning).

At the get-go Alex was excited that we were paying so little, and each night we were so exhausted we didn’t even notice the state the room was in. But after only two nights we really couldn’t stand being in the room anymore so we hung out at cafés until late. Luckily we already have one apartment lined up and another prospective apartment to check out. By Monday night we will have moved in to a new place, in-sha-allah.

Also on Monday, I have an appointment at the American Language Institute. It is situated directly across the street from AUB’s main gate so it will be perfect for my Arabic classes.

Sorry that I could not upload pictures this time, but I will definitely put them on the next posting!