De Ville Beirut

... and a Baptist Church can all share the same intersection without incident or war.

"Ten minutes" was the departure time of my van to Damascus and of course add a few ten minutes on top of that for the actual time. Forty minutes was a more accurate departure time and the first 45 minutes of the ride took us higher and higher above Beirut. Is there a building code that says every structure clinging to these mountains must be over 5 floors tall and ...

... insane humidity that makes Beirut terribly uncomfortable in the summer. But if there's anything everyone I've met supports, it's a peaceful and fair election... let's hope...

Also: After watching Obama's speech at an internet cafe and, again, with locals, I can honsetly say that never, ever have I been so proud of my country. But even after a speech as strong and powerful as Obama's, the word on the street is - we've heard enough words... we're ready for action.

... german girls from my room, which was nice - Tyre is in the south and considered to be (I think) in a more dodgy part of Lebanon as far as safety and israel is concerned, but it was a lovely day with no reason to worry. Tyre has some ruins scattered about, including a big cemmetry type complex, full of sarcophagi and tombs (still with bones inside might I add), and a huge hippodrome which really was quite impressive. We visited a local NGO called terre des hommes, which was ...

... while living in the camp, would the child have the right to own a Lebanese passport. The answer was no. I couldn't believe this. Because this place has existed for close to 60 years, this meant that people have been born in the camp and raised their whole life here yet they were still referred to as Palestinians even though they never set foot in their own country. A lot of these people lived their whole lives in Lebanon and yet they weren't allowed Lebanese citizenship. I guess ...

On Friday I decided to walk around Beirut since I didn't have the time to go anywhere outside of the city, as we had gotten back to Beirut at around 12 from Khiam. I checked out the American University of Beirut where everybody's father in Jordan went to school at (everybody, as in the wealthy who I primarily hang out with) and many of their own kids did as well. The campus is absolutely gorgeous and I could definitely see myself there. I ...

... people on balconies looking tired and scared. Having said that, I probably looked pretty similar myself. Rawda sent me a text asking where I was. By this stage I was on a three lane bridge and there were some lit up mountains in front of me. I also made some comment on the lack of road rules in Beirut and compared it to Cairo. Rawda assured me that Cairo was nothing compared to the lack of road rules in Lebanon! We drove alongside the ocean for most of the trip to Tripoli. You ...

... pristine new development projects, replaced instead by manifest poverty. In a strange way it reminded me of a car ride I'd once taken from the rich north to the ghettoised south side of Chicago, the same depressing feeling washing over me as I witnessed before my own eyes two different worlds in one city. Yet that comparison only took me so far and, as we entered deeper into the Hizbullah strongholds, what we saw was not poverty alone; this was a war zone, and I had ...

... you can't do it in a day trip, I really wish I'd stayed the night! One thing that really stood out during my 2.5 hours each way trip (using 6 modes of transport. Don't ask!!!) was that even in these rural and historically militant area's, the place is every bit as riddled with churches as it is mosques. I thought it was a french installed christain minorety which ran the country, but having seen all these churches, i don't know about the minority part?

... undeniable economic and political success even more remarkable. After depositing our dingy backpacks in Naji's family owned hotel on Hamra street, Beirut's main commercial district, we made our way to the beating heart of the city to grab a bite to eat. At the time we had no idea that this would mark the beginning of our five-star gastronomical tour of the country that would completely silence those who have claimed that Steven has lost weight on this trip. The Beirut Central ...

... it would have been messy. There was also a stone staircase, possibly with only twenty or 25 steps, but it was about a metre wide, and some of the steps were worn. I managed to climb the first part of the staircase, despite there being no banister, and a drop on either side. But at the top, I just had to sit right in the centre of the step, trying to catch my breath. To get back down, I had to take each step one at a time, sitting on each. Think there were a few people wondering what ...