Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! So we are not having a lick of Turkey today, but don’t worry we are saving it for our Thanksgiving party next week. However, we are really missing the holiday spirit. Tomorrow Christmas music will start playing on radios across America while dedicated mothers and daughters get up in the wee hours of the morning to go Black Friday shopping….(big sigh) oh how I miss it.

But! It is getting really cold here….definitely coat weather. The air is crisper and the overcast weather is creating that drowsy continuous Sunday afternoon feeling…its such a great feeling! I almost felt like I was back in Jersey. And, in preparation of the coming holiday, we have found an online radio station to listen to non-stop Christmas music. Excuse me if my language seems overly peppy, but this music is putting me in a great mood.

It has definitely been a busy week. We stopped taking Arabic classes at the American Language Center to begin private tutoring. The class we were in has come to a stopping point and Alex and I have surpassed their level, so we hired a tutor to move our studies along. Also the private tutor is almost half of what we were paying at the center, so it works for us!

Also I am working with a magazine as a proofreader and a freelancer. It’s a famous Middle Eastern women’s magazine, called Sayidaty. Their December issue will be the first in English, as it is usually in Arabic. So I’m proofreading once a month, before it goes to print and I am doing an article or two a month for them. I’m very excited because I have a good amount of experience in politics, but not in fashion or girly topics – in writing, that is.

So I just want to say that it is obvious that I’m going places:

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/starscene.asp?edition_id=1

This was the dinner party that MER, the media organization I work for, threw for the Swedish journalists we hosted for a week. Although the Daily Star does not mention it, Robert Fisk and some reps from the Arab newschannel Al Jazeera were also in attendance. Actually, Robert Fisk, who just wrote The Great War for Civilization and is considered by some people to be THE expert Middle East reporter, ate at my table. We had an interesting conversation to say the least, and it turned out to be a really fun night.

Please note, however, that my picture is not correctly labeled. Of course that is one step up from Alex and my friend, Matthias, who are only mentioned in the explanation paragraph below.

Concerning the situation in Lebanon, it seems unstable. I say that it seems so because its hard to tell. Where we live things are pretty normal, expect for the obvious increased security. Today was Lebanon’s Independence Day and there were no celebrations in sight. This could be due to the rain, but I don’t think that is the real cause. Lebanese President Emile Lahoud’s term is going to end on midnight Friday and there are no indications that consensus is going to happen between the ruling party and the opposition.

There are rumors that if a president is not elected there will be two governments, a possible civil war, a coup d’etat, or rioting. We are all hoping that something miraculous happens in the next few days. If it gets too bad we have a back-up plan…and we will keep you updated.

To get away from it all, Alex and I are taking a long weekend close to the Cedars, Lebanon's famous mountain region with preserved cedar forests, which double as a national symbol, appearing on the country's flag. Its in a village called Becharre and we are staying at a cute little place that one of my bosses told us about. We plan on just taking walks in the forests, and just loving the fresh snow that just fell. Its going to be a weekend next to the fireplace in a cozy salon with a book and a cup of hot chocolate. What a way to spend Thanksgiving away from home, eh?

P.S. Don't worry about the photo of me Grandma. Just because I'm holding a wine glass doesn't mean Alex has driven me to alcoholism!

Thoughts on Diplomacy, and Everything Else

Diplomacy is so funny sometimes. I never realized how amusing it is until I began to read the news everyday. Some of the statements I read by politicians really baffle me. In today’s news Iranian President Ahmadinejad released statements on Interpol’s issue of five arrest warrants of Iranian citizens suspected in the 1994 bombing in Argentina. Interpol can issue warrants, and last year it issued over 2000, but it cannot force the country housing the accused to arrest them.

Iran slammed Interpol’s accusations against five of its citizens, saying that the police force is being dragged into politics. Last August, in retaliation of the warrants, Iran issued warrants for five Argentines, saying they were a threat to Iranian security. I hope this sounds vaguely familiar. After the U.S. labeled Iran’s Qods Force, the elite branch of their army Revolutionary Guards, as terrorists, Iran responded by branding the U.S. army and the CIA as terrorists.

All of this diplomatic discourse gets so tiring. Of course I understand the need to preserve state security as well as maintaining relations with other countries, but sometimes the things states do seem so unnecessary. Would Iran really be seen as weak if they just let the Interpol thing slide? They know they have the choice to arrest them, isn’t it diplomatic enough to just ignore the ruling? Even more importantly, since Iran seems to be hurt that Argentina would implicate them in the bombings, wouldn’t it be a better show if Iran handed over the suspects in a cooperative manner? I guess that just wouldn’t fall in line with Iran’s personality.

I’m sure someone will tell me that I’m missing the bigger picture, but I think it unimportant to spend a lot of time analyzing why Iran wanted to respond in such a way to Argentina. I really think I would be the worst diplomat because I would just dismiss everything as being silly. I’ll leave it to others to handle those kinds of things, haha.

Like most women, I go through little phases like twice a year when I promise myself that I’m going to lose 10-15 lbs. And this month is one of those times. Since winter is coming on, its time for me to do a bit of warm clothes shopping…but who wants to try on clothes with a flabby body? Thus my 10-15 lb goal over the next month, and my subsequent reward of spending Alex’s money on cute clothing! (Shhh, I hope he doesn’t see this!)

So, if anyone has any weight loss tricks up their sleeve, including healthy eating or exercise tricks, feel free to shoot me an email or leave a comment on the blog. It doesn’t seem like many people do dieting here, probably because the women naturally have great figures until they are old enough to not care anymore, so I won’t be getting any good advice here.

Speaking of clothing, Alex and I happened to take a friend’s advice and go to a little place called Bourj Hammoud. It is an Armenian district in Beirut, and it is basically streets of strip malls. The clothing was the cheapest we’ve found in Beirut, at least for the above average quality of clothing. Alex was able to get a nice black wool suit, tailored and everything, for 100,000 Lebanese lira (approx $65). I didn’t do any personal shopping, but I was impressed with what I saw. Now I’m starting to feel a little more at home!

Also making me feel a little more at home are the plans Alex and I are involved in for Thanksgiving. Unfortunately we will not be able to celebrate the wonderful American celebration of Thanksgiving, and we will miss seeing turkeys made from silhouettes of hands, pictures of Native Americans and pilgrims, the orange, brown and yellow colors of the season, and of course all the great food. But we are going to do our best to have a big gathering for Thanksgiving – co-planned with a German friend. Yes, he is German, but he says that he loves Thanksgiving….it works.

So, I have one more favor to ask. Send us your favorite Thanksgiving recipe to give us some ideas for a buffet variety. We’ve got the turkey and stuffing on the list, as well as a pumpkin pie, and sides like potatoes and veggies. Thinking about it just makes me really happy! Can’t wait to hear from you!

Thank God for Rain!

We had our first winter rain! It’s almost mid-Nov. and we finally had a heavy and cooling rain. It’s about time – we have maintained 80 degrees during the day here and its starting to really take a toll on my body. I just shouldn’t be sweating so close to xmas!

I have restarted the process of filling out university applications. I’m starting to get that senior year (of high school) giddiness all over again. The first time I applied to college, however, I only send in my application to one school – Seton Hall. Fortunately I got in, but this time I’m playing it a bit more safe. Thus far I’ve begun applications to American University, Johns Hopkins, Georgetown, University of Virginia. University of Pennsylvania, George Washington University, and possibly Drexel University.

Also Alex and I have finalized plans for Christmas. Instead of spending it at home, which we will miss terribly, we are going to vacation in Eastern Europe. We just bought the tickets two nights ago! We will fly to Prague and spend Christmas there. Afterward we will go to Vienna for a few days, and then onto Budapest where we will fly back. On the way back, we have a one-day layover in Milan! Four countries in one vacation! Not bad, eh?

Lately we have just been working, studying, working and studying some more. Everyday I am missing the rigors of college even more, but I am still learning a lot. My Arabic is 2000x’s better than ever, and I could hold a pretty decent discussion on a variety of subjects related to the Middle East.

For some light reading this past month I picked up a book by Robert Greene called The Art of Seduction. You may have heard of his other book, The 48 Laws of Power, which also happened to make the Harvard Review. It was definitely a great read; he was a classics major so he infuses the analysis with examples from old and modern history which makes for an interesting layout.

Although, after reading halfway into the book, the chapters can get a little repetitive the anecdotes of historical figures are always fresh and entertaining. It is a non-fiction book that reads like fiction.

Much like his book on power, The Art of Seduction illustrates how a person can be sexually or politically admired by manipulating situations – including the environment, material goods (clothes, gifts, props, etc) and people.

He first defines the kinds of seducers, depending on what the person’s objective and personality are. Then he defines the victims of seducers, particularly what the person is missing in their life to make them succumb to a seduction. Finally he elaborates on the phases of seduction and their respective components. That is, what you want to achieve during the first phase, the second, and so on. He further outlines the qualities of the “anti-seducer,” and in the end how to either break clean from a seduction or keep the seduction alive.

Greene’s analysis of human psychology is right on, although put in simple terms and more common sense than science. More than anything I enjoyed it for the analysis of the human mind, because it always good to know how a person ticks. Even if you have no desire to seduce someone, in any form, I would still recommend the book.

The only problem I have with the author is that both books, on power and seduction, he makes it seem as though the person who employs these tactics achieve their goal(s) is above the people who are the victims. Yes, he admits that the seducer can fail in his task, or that she can be counter-manipulated by her chosen victim; but he does not address the fact that the seducer can wind up in a worse state than his/her victim.

A seduction or power-play is fine, but when someone becomes dependent on it, as did the libertines in Greene’s book, they wind up becoming detached from their victims. That is to say, they are now always in charge and have lost the fantasy of seduction or of being in love. Then the seduction becomes a job and not a pleasure. When one becomes disenfranchised then they are more apt to be the victim, than the seductor. He, although making it seem as if it is quite normal, does not talk about the effects of what I would like to call “chronic seduction”.

Now I am reading The Story of Philosophy by William Durant. I have always been interested in the topic and Alex suggested the book to me, as a good survey of philosophy.

For a brief update:
There are already rumors that the Lebanese parliament’s third attempt at electing a president, on Nov 12, is going to be postponed – again. So far there has been no violence here between group loyal to the majority or opposition. Lebanon is becoming increasingly popular among Western and Mid Eastern states, especially the last few months, so we will see how things pan out.

The same old discourse is being passed around – The majority says it will elect with a simple majority if there is no consensus. Hizbullah and opposition parties threaten to create a second govt, and now President Emile Lahoud is making really immature comments saying that if the majority elects with a simple majority that the opposition will elect with a “50 minus one” vote – trying to signify that both moves are unconstitutional. Who knows what will happen.

Interestingly the US just placed sanctions on two Lebanese and two Syrian politicians, claiming that they were undermining Lebanon’s sovereignty. That didn’t go over too well with Hizbullah or opposition parties in general. Actually, I didn’t know a state could do that, or did that. Amusing!

Hope to hear from everyone soon! And hope that everyone in America is enjoying the fall weather for us!