Old and New

It goes without saying that people have inhabited this area for ages. The ancient Phoenicians resided here, and the Romans established a law school in Beirut. The region was dubbed the Levant by the Crusaders because this is where the sun rose over the Mediterranean - similarly, the Arabic name for Morocco, Maghrib, means evening or sunset (in English you will see Maghrib used to refer to northwestern Africa in general). During the new construction in Beirut, several archeological sites have been uncovered, and some effort has been made to preserve them: below are pictures of Roman baths found during the new construction downtown.

I thought some might enjoy the next few pictures. Naturally, the best of American culture (fast food) is prevalent. McD's is across from campus, and there is another one on the Coriniche (across from Hard Rock Cafe) which features the car service in the following picture. A couple of restaurants, including Burger King, will park your car for you, which makes sense as there are a lot of cars but not many places to park them as far as I can tell - it is just funny to think of McD's will valets! And naturally, I have found 2 Starbucks, in case I feel the need to get a caffinated beverage that tastes nothing like coffee.
Arabic and Turkish coffee are prepared very differently than the coffee we are used to in the States. Basically, Arabic and Turkish coffee are prepared the same, except Arabic coffee has more cardamon. They put very finely ground coffee and some water into a small pot on the stove, heat it for a few minutes, then pour it into an espresso-sized cup. If you want it sweetened (and most likely you do) they add the sugar while they are cooking it, and you order your coffee either with no sugar, medium sugar, or sweet. This by no means make the drink overly sweet, it rather takes a bit of the bite out of the coffee, though you still know for certain that you are burning holes through your stomache by drinking the stuff. You don't drink the bottom of your cup because of the remaining grounds, though if you are really talented, you can let the grounds dry and then practice your fortune telling. From what I've read, coffee drinking was brought to the region by the Turks, who got it from the Arabs in what is now Saudi Arabia. There are a lot of coffee shops, but these are traditionally the domain of men, and even in Beirut it is hard to find women hanging out in the shops. I know I've made coffee here sound gross, but really it is strangely addictive and a nice change from American coffee.

Brazil Beat Ghana

I fell asleep this afternoon, and when I woke up after my long nap, the first thought that came to my mind was "ah, Brazil must have won its game in the World Cup." I could hear the people celebrating on the Corniniche from my room. I went down to look for a few minutes, and the celebrations that I watched for Italy's victory were nothing compared with this one. The police were out trying to keep things under control, but I don't know how successful they really were. There were dozens of cars out full of people waving the Brazilian flag while fireworks were set off in the street. I didn't stay too long because alcohol, cars, and overly excited people don't mix well in any country, and I wasn't able to get any pictures, so just use your imagination. I have a hard time imagining people behaving this way in the United States for a team half a world a way - actually, it is kind of hard to imagine people in the United States getting this excited at all.

I was able to snap some pictures today walking around town of all of the construction going on here. Unemployment is very high here (I think around 20%) and many educated people leave the country to get better jobs, while cheap labor floods in from Syria. According to one estimate, there are one million Syrian laborers in Lebanon, while the total population of Lebanon is a little over 3 million. Additionally, Syrian law dictated that any large goods purchased outside of Syria could not be brought into the country, meaning if a Syrian bought a car in Lebanon they couldn't take it home, discouraging spending outside of Syria. I don't know how much of this has changed after the so-called Cedar Revolution of 2004 (when Lebanon effectively asked Syria to butt-out after the death of Rafik Hariri). Beirutis are furiously trying to rebuild the city in an effort to restore its former glory and to attrack more businesses and jobs. A few of the towers are hotels and condos - one of the largest will be a Four Seasons hotel. I took these two pictures from one spot near downtown Beirut.


What gets me a little is seeing all of the renovations and new construction, and then only a few steps away is the stereotypical squalor. Here is one example: we stumbled across this beautiful home surrounded by gardens and a high fence, and directly across from it were crowded apartment buildings in the picture below.

First days in Beirut

After a very long trip, I made it to Beirut. My classes don't start until Wednesday, so I have a few days where I can just look around and get to know the area. The university is in a district called Hamra, which wasn't damaged very much during the war - apperently, artists and intellectuals hung out around here. The university itself is very beautiful, as it sits on the side of a hill and has a view of the Mediterranean. The weather is pretty warm, and the humidity only makes it feel warmer than it is. It seems like people wait until the evening to go out very much. During the day on Sunday the streets were virtually empty, but at night the traffic was terrible and people were out walking about. The drivers here are insane: there are lanes on the road, but they don't follow them at all (at times the taxis will just drive in the middle of the road), pedestrians barely have right of way on the sidewalk, and honking your horn is required every few minutes.

Mostly I have just walked around the city a bit, and I haven't felt uncomfortable doing so. Beirut is full of stark contrasts - revealing western style clothing is worn just as often as very conservative Islamic dress. Many of the buildings are either old and rundown (or still show war scars) while several are brand new and very high tech.
This is a picture of the Intercontinental Hotel, with the (former) Holiday Inn behind it. Before the war, both were very nice hotels, but during the war, the Holiday Inn became a favorite spot for snipers (and a target for those wanting to bomb the sniper positions), while the Intercontinental only had minimal damage. Obviously, the Intercontinental has been renovated, but there is some controversy around renovating the Holiday Inn because of the memories associated with the building. These buildings are only a 15-20 minute walk from the AUB campus, which gives you an idea how close and concentrated the fighting was, if only a few blocks made a difference.

There is a lot of work being done to revive the downtown. Basically, massive investments have been made to attrack restaurants, businesses, and tourists. They appear to be successful so far, and an effort has been made to replicate the Ottoman and French Mandate-era architecture in the area. This picture shows several of the sidewalk cafes, and though most of them are Lebanese-owned, there is a Starbucks and a Dunkin' Donuts downtown as well!

This next picture is a little fuzzy, but you can see that the city is pretty big and commercial, not quite the image we all have of the Middle East.
The Coriniche is the walkway along the sea, and during the evening it is the popular place to hang out. The weather is much cooler, and people show up with the entire family to sit and watch the people walk by, drink coffee or eat ice cream, and just chat.

When Italy beat Australia in the World Cup, several cars full of Italy-supporters cruised along the Coriniche honking their horns and waving their flags, even stopping and setting off fireworks. I have seen several flags up representing favorites in the world cup: Italy and Brazil are by far the most popular, though there are a few German flags and some Saudi flags up as well. It will be interesting to see the reaction as the tournament progresses, though it is kind of funny watching people celebrate so much for a completely different country!