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!