Author Archives: Ethan
Glossary, Addenda I
Bomb-Buddy – A mirror on an end of a stick, sometimes with wheels, used for checking underneath automobiles for bombs. They’re pretty common at most parking lots and fancy hotels in Beirut. Hallas – Arabic for “enough”. Proper usage: (when … Continue reading
Local Mode
So far we’ve been staying in the neighborhood this weekend. On Friday night Amy made some pizzas and we sat on the floor of the living room eating, drinking wine, talking, and listening to The Wedding. Later on, we went … Continue reading
Simple Pleasures
[Warning to the casual reader…this post is filed under Monkey Brains, with all that that entails.] Today during the course of my work I whipped up this quick, easy php function for getting the mime-type of a file based on … Continue reading
Syria Gave Us The Bird
So I cleared it with my colleagues and clients that I would be leaving town for a few days to renew my visa. I had satisfied myself that we were on track with wedding plans and preparations to come back … Continue reading
My Precious
This weekend we picked up our rings, walked around Solidere and Bourj Hammoud taking pictures, hung out at Torino, and marvelled at the completely lackluster response to the Beirut marathon. We started the week off with a bang by going … Continue reading
Bombs In Amman
We were flipping through the channels tonight after watching a particularly unambitious episode of Nip/Tuck when we saw the news of the bombings of three hotels in Jordan. It is a strange feeling, because this isn’t the first time we’ve … Continue reading
“It’s My Birthday And I Wants It”
It seems like last week was quite typical of my recent time here: a week of drudgery book-ended by weekends of total fun. Last weekend, my birthday weekend, was terrific. In addition to winning top prize at the embassy party, … Continue reading
Halloween? Na’am!
Halloween? Yes! I had assumed upon moving to Beirut that one of the things I would be giving up would be Halloween. However, due to our slightly less than six degrees of separation from the U.S. Embassy, we found ourselves … Continue reading
Thursday, Friday
I believe that Amy and I have both previously described how kind, warm, and welcoming our landlords, the Sidani family, have been to us. We have been invited frequently to stop by for coffee sometime, but as gringos, we find … Continue reading
Shoo Halloween?
What Halloween? Below are some photos of one of only two examples of Halloween decorations I’ve seen in Beirut. The other one prominently featured orange umbrellas. I may be all alone on this, but unless they are demon-possessed, lined with … Continue reading