Amy’s Journal

June is here. The weather is still pleasant- upper 70s, but the sun feels stronger here and it is a bit humid. At night it is usually cool and breezy. Whenever we are home we have all of the doors and windows open and it is quite comfortable- apparently this will not be the case in July and August.

So Beitedinne is actually closed on Monday (oops) so we had a rather pleasant drive into the mountains, but didn’t see the museum. The Chouf is quite close to Beirut, we drove there in about half an hour. There are a lot of ancient cedar trees there, though we didn’t drive that far. We passed through some Druze villages, which prompted the taxi driver to explain that the Druze worship female calves the way that “we” worship God. While this seems to some sort of wild rumor, there must be many wacky things being said about Druze beliefs, as they themselves are not allowed to know what their religion says. They are an off-shoot of Shiite Islam, but I think that many people today consider it to be something more cult-like. They believe in reincarnation and that there are a fixed number of souls, so you can’t become Druze.

I sort of wanted to stay in the mountains, as it was so sunny, cool, and breezy, but we headed back down to the coast and went south to Tyr. We visited some Roman/Byzantine ruins which are right on the blue Mediterranean-really stunning, the crumbling pillars against the sea. Later, we headed to Saida, where we bought some olive soap and wandered around in the souk. There is a lot of renovation going on of the old medina, and it was very pleasant. We went into the Khan there (a khan is a sort of old hotel for travelers where you could leave your animals in the courtyard or on the first floor, and people stayed upstairs). They seemed to have renovated it for shops to go in, and one place seemed to be a performance area, as there was a stage inside.

Back in Beirut, we went to an Armenian restaurant that was truly delicious. I definitely want to go back. There are a lot of Armenians here in Lebanon because many fled here during the genocide in Turkey.

Ethan remains frustrated with all of the internet issues (mainly with VPN, but also because of the slowness) which have been interfering with his work. We have internet service in our apartment now, at least. Today he plans to go to Starbucks and see how service is there.

I found a really excellent DVD rental place around the corner – they have all kinds of great stuff. The owner told me that he has the third season of “Six Feet Under’ on order, but that it will still be a few more weeks because “customs sucks here.” In order to get a membership, I had to tell him my first and last name and give him our cell phone number.

I’m not sure if I have mentioned how excellent the produce is here. Really delicious tomatoes are everywhere for about 30 cents per kilo, a big bunch of cilantro or parsley is less than 10 cents. Everything is fresh and delicious, and as long as you stay away from imports, you can feed yourself very well for very little. Alternatively, a pint of Haagen Dazs is something like 8 dollars. And I am going to have to learn how to make tortillas, because I haven’t seen them anywhere.

So the elections yesterday had an extremely low turnout (about 25% of voters in Beirut, and in some Christian neighborhoods more like 10%). So wild when you consider that over a million people cared enough about the political situation to turn out for several rallies just a few months ago. I think this has to do with the perception that it didn’t really matter who wins, it’s all business as usual. Also, Saad Hariri’s coalition was certain to win. There was very little campaigning, and even the coalition building was done via back room deals. Another huge reason for people to boycott, especially Christians, is that there are some very unfair election laws that are still in effect which strongly benefit pro-Syrian candidates (not unlike the Republican led gerrymandering that went on in Texas last year).

Anyhow, it’s all very interesting.

I’m heading to the Chouf Mountains today with Becky (an American anthropologist we’ve met) and a friend of hers. We are going to see Beitedinne Castle (lots of Ottoman art, I gather).

So it’s election day, in Beirut anyhow. Other parts of Lebanon are voting on future Sundays. Not surprisingly, pretty much everyone is voting for Saad Hariri’s coalition here. Before we moved, I had the impression that since these were the first free elections, that everyone would be voting and excited about it. However, even the Daily Star refers to them as “free” elections and a lot of people are boycotting. Many people aren’t seeing these elections as anything different, just because the Syrian soldiers are gone.

One of our landlords (like many, many people) has posters of Rafik Hariri all over his door and in his sitting room. I made a comment that he must like Hariri quite a bit, but his response: “Oh, he is okay.”

I haven’t been here long enough or talked to enough people to be able to give much good analysis of the political situation, though.

We are leaving in a bit to go solidify the deal with our new apartment. This one is in Hamra, which is West Beirut. It’s a lively neighborhood, predominately Muslim but actually rather mixed, and AUB is near, so there are also a lot of students and foreigners. The apartment has several balconies and terraces, which has turned out to be my number one criteria for every apartment that we have seen. Most apartments here have at least one balcony, but all balconies are not created alike. This apartment has what is essentially a 25X10′ deck. I am totally guessing, so I will modify that if it turns out that I am just wrong.

The building is owned by the Sidani family, and the tenants all seem to be Sidani family members or foreigners. They seem to want to rent exclusively to foreigners. They have been extremely gracious and accommodating. It was strange how we found the place. Our friends Naomi and Rich (we stayed with them here when we came before- the friends of Katy’s cousin, Sarah), who have since moved back to NZ, told us that we should try to rent in this building. They had lived here the year after we were here. Then we found it without knowing it was that building, b/c there was a for rent sign. So it seemed to be meant to be. Apparently, one of the brothers has a taxidermy business on the roof, which we have not yet seen.

Also, I want to mention that the other day I found a dead tarantula.

So we have been here in Beirut for not quite a week. I’m mostly adjusted to the time change. It was nice to arrive and have things be somewhat familiar. Beirut really isn’t that big, so we remembered a lot from when we were here a few years ago.

Our temporary apartment is okay.. the main thing it has going for it are the 2 balconies-or the view from them, really. We are in Ain Mreisseh, very near the American University of Beirut (AUB). The apartment is a few blocks back from the Mediterranean Sea, but we are on a hill and there are no buildings right in front of us, so we have a clear view to the Corniche and the sea. It’s also nice and breezy, and even though there have already been some hot days, it always stays cool inside our apartment with the glass doors wide open. The rest of the apartment is not nearly so great. It’s a bit like a mid-range Eastern European hotel, with slightly soiled carpet, functional but generic furnishings, grotty bathroom. There is no oven, only what is essentially a camping stove. It also smells slightly badly without the balcony door open.

Anyhow, we are looking for a new place. There are tons of furnished apartments, but all of the ones that we have seen are either far less pleasant than this one, or else they are very expensive. They are also pretty much hotels, which is not really what we are after. It’s nice that we don’t have to pay electric bills or take out the trash, but it’s not at all set up for visitors. We saw a really nice place that we are considering. It’s got a wrap around balcony (we are kind of into the balcony thing) and is completely renovated and huge (3 bedrooms), but it is totally unfurnished, which would be a huge expense, even if we decided not to buy much. It’s also in Achrafiyeh, in more of a neighborhood, which has huge pluses, but it’s quite a bit inland.

On Sunday, we went wandering and stopped in Place de Etoile to watch all of the kids riding around on their bikes and trikes. There are few places to ride bicycles in Beirut because the traffic is so insane. More on that later, I am certain. Then we walked along the Corniche and familes were out in full force, having picnics, chatting, smoking nargileh pipes. Quite a scene, really.

I have been looking for differences in Beirut since we were here for a few weeks in late 2002. There are “Independence 2005” signs and Rafik Hariri posters are everywhere. At least in central neighborhoods, there are fewer Hizbollah signs, and seemingly no posters of President Lahoud. In 2002, there were posters of Lahoud all over, as in countries with dictators, like Syria. Shops and businesses nearly all seem to display posters of the assassinated Hariri and of his son, Saad, who is running for office. They are often pictured together, sometimes with the father pictured in the background, a bit faded out, like a ghost.