Beginning of the Holiday Season

I think I should see a psychotherapist…I am officially addicted to Christmas music and am getting too excited about the holidays. And we haven’t even had our Thanksgiving dinner yet!

Actually, I’ve been a little homesick this past week. Alex and I went out to get a Christmas tree and some decorations, and I’m really missing the American way of Christmas. What I really love about the season is that everybody knows and loves the same songs, and people just really get into the season.

It all begins with Thanksgiving, when people really start traveling and spending time with family during the season. I don’t think I will ever spend this part of the year away from America, because it’s just so disappointing to be in a place where they don’t have the slightest idea about your traditions. Of course, I don’t expect people here to, but it just makes me homesick.

I remember last year I spent Thanksgiving with one of my favorite families – my boss Clarke from Other Mothers, her husband Tim and her two children Alex and Jenny – and even though I spent it in New Jersey away from family it was still so wonderful! It was all about family and friends sharing time together and just relaxing and enjoying life – and so it doesn’t matter where you are as long as you are surrounded by people who can really enjoy the season.

After putting up the tree, and reminiscing about all those years I put one up with my family and spent the winter break just laying around with a book and some tea, I just wanted to hop on a plane and come home. Its funny how, however ambitious one might be or however busy one becomes, they just can’t get away from the contagious spirit of the holidays.

So I hope everyone is really enjoying the Christmas preparations, and the cold weather. And for all my fellow Christmas lovers, be thankful you are not in a country halfway around the world because it’s just not the same!

This week, I am just running around trying to get a lot of stuff done. I am slowly working toward finishing college transfer essays. I am glad that I have an early start on them, and hope it really pays off.

Otherwise I am really busy trying to plan a Thanksgiving party. So far I am cooking two turkeys, mashed and roasted potatoes, stuffing, veggies on the side, deviled eggs, chocolate chip cookies and a cheesecake. To participate in the American way of Thanksgiving we encouraged everyone to bring something to the party, and people are really helping out! People have said they are bringing pies and other desserts, beverages, side dishes and helping out with decorations.

We expect 25-30 people, so it should be a lot of fun. At least it will help to diminish the disappointment in missing Thanksgiving in America. Best of all, the rushing around to make sure everything goes well has turned into a kind of high. I really think that I could make a career out of planning and hosting events. I just love everything about it. And Lebanon is definitely the place to do it – the social atmosphere is great here! I will definitely post all the pictures from the event…and for all our dear friends and family, we will be thinking of you during our Thanksgiving Dinner, because we could not be with you this year!


Although I mentioned that the organization I work for was hosting Swedish journalists for a week, I did not get around to the best part! At the end of the week they hosted a sightseeing trip to the Ksara Winery, Baalbek and Anjar.

Our first stop was Ksara. We arrived there at ten in the morning, and we were given a tour of the winery. We were able to see the fields, and their legendary caves dating back to the Roman period. They are not sure what the caves were used for, but they uncovered an extensive underground network of tunnels.

The caves are now used to store wine during their fermentation process and to store sealed bottles that are either being aged, or just kept for historical reference for the winery. The best part, of course, was the wine tasting. We tasted seven different wines, and then had a chance to buy from their store. They also gifted us each a bottle of wine, which happened to be my favorite from the tasting.

So after a little wine tasting at eleven in the morning, we all took naps on the way to Baalbek. Baalbek is a site of Roman ruins, including the only surviving temple of Jupiter. The site, for being through an earthquake and centuries of weather, was in relatively good condition. You could really see the beauty of the architecture. It was surprising that there was little guarding of the site and people were able to just pick things up, or write on the structures. But, it was still a very cool site to see.

And our last stop was Anjar. It’s an Armenian town close to the Syrian border, and it was full of good restaurants. We ate at a restaurant right on a little lake, where they actually got the fish people ordered. The food was really good, and it was the first time I ate a fish that wasn’t filleted for me.

As for our trip this past weekend, it is definitely going to be one of my best memories during our stay in Beirut. We definitely achieved what we set out to do, and that was to get away from Beirut and all aspects of city life.

We stayed in a small ski lodge called Chbat, in the village Becharre and the owner Wadih was great! He made sure that we had a safe trip there, and everything was perfect for us! It may have been because we were their only customers at the time, due to the unstable political situation, but nevertheless it was an amazing experience.

The first day we were there we just walked around the town and visited a museum dedicated to Gibril Jibron, a famous author and poet. The town was really quiet and the weather was chilly, in fact the first layer of snow fell on the mountains only a few days before we got there.

The second day was the highlight of the trip. We went on a half day hike of the Qadisha Valley, also called the Valley of the Saints. On one side of the valley there is a village called Dimone, and it is where the Maronite patriarch stays for the summer. Also in the valley there are numerous monasteries and hermitages, some of which date back to the first century. Given that I have not hiked many mountainous regions, the valley was one of the most beautiful regions I have ever visited. Every kilometer offered a beautiful view – each one very different from the other. I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as we enjoyed the hike.

http://picasaweb.google.com/alexander.m.adrian/QadishaValleyValleyOfTheSaints

On our last day, we visited the town of Dimone and another town known as the highest village in the Middle East. Also we went to see the Cedars. Although the Cedar tree is on Lebanon’s flag, they are no longer prevalent in the country. Now it is illegal to cut them down and they have small parks dedicated to preserving them. We happened to go to one such park, which was disappointingly small. The trees looked old, and were very pretty. Everyone told us that we had to visit while we are here, because it is what Lebanon is know for…so I’m glad we went.

The weekend was a huge success, and we didn’t want to come back to Beirut on Sunday. We had a chance to sip hot chocolate around a fireplace and just talk about life. We also had a chance to go to a Maronite mass. We went to a short version of mass, but it was much like a Catholic mass except it was in Arabic. Overall, it was nice to get away from the car horns and away from work.

To wrap up I want to update everyone on the political situation. Lebanese President Emile Lahoud’s term ended at midnight on Friday, but the election was postponed for the fourth time until this coming Friday. Lebanon, therefore, is currently presidentless. As stipulated in the constitution, Prime Minister Fuad Siniora and his government (his cabinet, that is) took over presidential powers for the time being.

For the past few months there have been worries that Siniora would not be allowed to take over in case of no election, because the president and opposition parties (including Hizbullah) sees the government as illegitimate. This is due to all of Lebanon’s Shiite ministers pulling out of the government, claiming to not be represented fairly.

However, power transferred without any objections or violence/rioting. Thus far the political temperature has remained steady, although there are fears that if there is not an agreement soon things may change for the worse. We feel pretty safe right now, and we are just taking it day by day.