December Update

Updates on everything:

*The Thanksgiving dinner went extremely well. All of our guests, and about 25 people came, really got into it and helped out so much. They brought pies, dishes, drinks and we had more than enough for everyone. The two turkeys I made turned out great and so far no one has reported any food poisoning. The stuffing tasted like Grandma’s recipe and that alone made me more than happy. The night turned out to be great, and Alex and I didn’t miss Thanksgiving after all.

*Sayidaty magazine is paying me for my first article. I interviewed a woman, and a friend, who is publishing a comic book and the character is based in Lebanon. So I did an article and the mag is using it! I have also spoken with the editor about a couple of other story ideas and I think that I may be doing another story very soon.

*We began taking Arabic with our new tutor and its working out great. She’s young, smart and a great teacher. We are moving much faster than we were with the other center.

*Things are starting to look hopeful for Lebanese politics. Since Nov 24, Lebanon has been without a president because the majority March 14 coalition and the opposition March 8 camp could not agree on a consensus candidate and neither one could secure a 2/3s quorum to hold an election. Now, however, the majority has agreed on a candidate that the opposition also agreed on: Army Commander General Michel Suleiman. However, the Lebanese constitution says a grade-one employee, such as Suleiman, has to step down two years before running for office. Right now the two camps are in the process of discussing if and how to amend to the constitution to allow Suleiman to run for president. Also last week there was a bombing in Baabda, where the presidential palace is. A top army official was targeted – Brigadier François Hajj. The assassination has stalled the process once more.

Otherwise Alex and I are doing great. This past week we were a little sick, which put a damper on the beginning of our break. We were worried that our vacation we had planned would be ruined, but we got lots of rest and hydrated a lot and we have both definitely seen improvement.

Alex is now getting published in The Executive, where he has worked as a researcher for a couple of months. I’m so proud of him – he is doing really well. And his boss, Matthias, is trying really hard to convince us to stay longer. Guess he realizes just as much as I do how big of an asset Alex is – in everything he is part of!

Alex and I kicked off our Christmas celebrations last Friday when we attended a Christmas party put on by the American and British ladies of Lebanon. It was held in the ballroom of a really nice hotel. We danced all night, listened to great music, won a raffle and really enjoyed ourselves.

And on Friday morning, at 3, we are getting on a flight to Europe for you Christmas vacation! I’ve never been, and am really excited about experiencing another continent. I will definitely try to update during the trip, and will post our pics as soon as possible. Hope to hear from everyone soon.

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!