A Weekend Excursion: Beirut, Lebanon

Taking advantage of a three-day weekend, some friends and I got on a bus early Friday morning, April 22nd, and headed to the airport to catch a flight to Beirut.  One hour later, we landed in the city by the Mediterranean with the pine-tree mountains sloping into the blue water.  After hailing a bus that would be perfect for a "don't take candy from strangers" ad, and getting dropped off downtown, the party split ways to find lodgings and my friend and I began our day long foot tour of Beirut.

Unlike the government regulated short, white buildings that make up Amman, Beirut has a lot of varying architecture. There was everything from European style apartment buildings painted in fresh spring colors with shutters and cast iron balconies, to the classic white sandstone Middle Eastern homes to the modern skyscrapers that towered above.  So much old and new side by side.  Most striking of all were the buildings half fallen down or peppered with bullet holes from the 2006 Israeli strike in response to attacks from Hezbollah.

Zane and I spent one day by foot, walking till we were half crazy. We wandered along streets, explored neighborhoods, sipped coffee at a couple cafes and sat on the rocky shore.  Ecstatic about the bit of French culture, I insisted we stop somewhere to eat crepes. The beautiful trees in the well gardened campus of the American University of Beirut were just about enough to convince us to submit applications for grad school. The campus wasn't the only place with trees and gardens. The whole city was covered in floweres.... any open space was brightened up with a bedded garden or flower pot.  The city bloomed.  I was most happy.  :-)  Informed of an Arab contemporary dance festival, Zane and I tried our luck and attended one performance.  Tired from the day's wanderings, our minds couldn't quite grasp the many themes portrayed in the 2-hour performance of two men dressed only in black underwear.

We stayed in Beirut from Friday morning till Saturday evening.  So, as we wanted to give our feet a rest and not risk our precious money with taxi drivers, Zane and I rented bikes for the morning and afternoon, and enjoyed the lovely weather riding along the Mediterranean.  We did stop for a while to walk on a public beach which was mostly empty.

All-in-all, Beirut was definitely a highlight of the semester and a much needed break from the routine of Amman.  It was also a wonderful opportunity to experience another form of Arab culture.  As my host mom put it, "Lebanon might be in a war, might have their government run over by Hezbollah, or are attacked by Israel, but the people keep living and loving life.  They are just so happy." From what I could tell from my two days there, she is right.

I highly recommend a visit. :-)