Beirut, Lebanon
33° 52' N 35° 30' E
Apr 28, 2006 00:46
Distance 85km

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Back in Beirut for Half a Day (and a Night)

Text written in: English

Beirut... is a city of contrasts. Downtown looks like a European capital, with the occasional beautiful mosque. Other (poorer) parts of the city? Well, let's just say there was a 20+ year civil war. In sha allah, I'll be living here after a year...

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Photos / videos of "Back in Beirut for Half a Day (and a Night)":

The Syria/Beirut border, on our way back The Mosque, as seen from the wealthy shopping district downtown A beautiful church steeple A garden (and ruins?) in central Beirut where young people come to chill The garden, continued FITTY DOES BEIRUT (and I am too white to know what to do with my hands) Oud (Arab lute) players and singers at the Jemmayzeh Cafe. They were awesome, and I had fun establishing a little rapport with them. At one point I asked them to play "Habbina" by Farid el-Atrache, and they kindly obliged! z z Senait and hookah Big smile! Senait puffs away! I was really popular at this restaurant, probably because I was so into the Arabic music and so clearly not Arab. By the end of the evening, I had about three people (two of them waiters) offering to give me a ride home, and this guy who was sitting at the table with the owner gave me a rose! a la rose This is what I love about Lebanon: a woman in the audience will just get up and bellydance. It was awesome watching her. And though obviously not a professional dancer, she was really good! I ended up giving her the rose the guy had given me - spread the wealth! Gifts are for all! Back in Cairo, modeling my loot. This is a shirt I picked up in the Damascus souq. The man? Syria's current dictata flava, Bashir al-Asad, and as you can probably tell, he and I share your "concerns." The caption reads (uh, "appropriately") "Allah protects Syria." Me in a shawl I picked up from Syria. I love it.
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