Blogs from Lebanon, Middle East - page 10

A Blog from Beirut ‘You should know, there is only one rule in Beirut, there are no rules.’ This slogan was more or less the first thing my taxi driver said to me as he picked me up from Rafik Hariri International airport on my arrival into Lebanon and the Middle East. At the time I thought little of this rather dramatic cliche as the conversation moved to more trivial matters such as why was it that I hadn’t taken my National Service yet and why exactly had I come to Lebanon to study politics! However, during my first week here in Beyrouth I have heard this slogan on several occasions, from University professors to street venders. This made me wonder, why is this expression so common and what exactly does it mean? After all, 40 ... read more

Beirut is about 4 hours away from Damascus but it may as well be on another planet. There are expensive cars, western chain stores and banks everywhere. The downtown area has been completely rebuilt and it’s like any city in Europe complete with the standard clothes shops, Starbucks & Mc Donald’s. There are still plenty of reminders of the city’s tumultuous history: visible bullet holes in some of the buildings and the massive bullet ridden Holiday Inn dominates the skyline in part of the city. As well as this walking around the city during Friday prayers there was literally a soldier every metre around the mosque. Not to mention tanks in other areas. Other than the war Beirut is probably best known for its nightlife. The bars are centred around the Gemmayzeh area where we went ... read more

Starozytne swiatynie, cedry i snieg, Wyjechalismy z Beirutu wypozyczonym samochodem w kierunku miasta o mitycznie brzmiacej nazwie Byblos. Droga z Beirutu na polnoc szczelnie obudowana jest sklepami, centrami handlowymi, fastfoodami i domami, a wszystko ozdabiaja wielkie billboardy. Tylko czasami udaje sie posrod tego wszystkiego zobaczyc morze. Ruch w Libanie odbywa sie wedlug jednej zlotej reguly: wiekszy wygrywa. Co tez juz w przedbiegach dyskryminuje pieszych i de facto eliminuje ich z ruchu, smialkow probujacych przemierzac Beirut pieszo skazujac na kilka tuzinow prob samobojczych dziennie. Absolutnie najgorzej jezdza kobiety, obowiazkowo na pietnastocentymetrowych obcasach i z komorka w reku. Zadnej nie zdarzylo sie zatrzymac, zeby nas przepuscic. Swiatla na skrzyzowaniu traktowane sa jedynie pomocniczo i respektowane tylko w ostatecznosci. Pasy na jezdni nie istnieja, a tam gdzie ... read more

Jestesmy w Libanie. Cedry zielenieja na tle wzgorz okrytych sniegiem, a z kazdej galezi zwisa falafel. Przekraczamy granice w Al Areda. Do granicy jechalismy od Aleppo mniej wiecej wzdluz syryjskiego wybrzeza. Syria ma go 185 km i to jest o 185 km za duzo, bo absolutnie nie wiedza, co sie z nim robi. Zwiedzanie wybrzeza zaczelismy od miasta Latakia - najwiekszego syryjskiego portu. Mielismy tam dojechac w maksimum 2,5 godziny, ale nasz kierowca postanowil zalatwic po drodze swoje prywatne sprawy. Podroz trwala wiec ponad godzine dluzej, a zamiast w Latakii zatrzymac sie po drodze z polnocy na poludnie, zrobilismy kolo i do miasta zajechalismy od poludnia, cofajac sie ku polnocy. Nasz kierowca absolutnie nie rozumial, ze chcemy tylko zobaczyc morze i napic sie kawy, bo miasto absolutnie nie zasluguje na to, zeby nadkladac dla niego drogi. ... read more

I tried very hard with Lebanon. I really did. And I’m not used to having to try at all: brand new territory for me mentally as well as geographically. But I never quite got there. And somehow that conclusion - reluctant as I have been since my return to voice it even to myself - makes me feel as if I failed. The history is mind-blowing, I’ll readily admit: from fossils millions of years old to the most incredible Stone Age, Greek, Roman, Phoenician, Arab and Crusader ruins, often all piled on top of each other like a giant four-dimensional jigsaw puzzle. The wine is delicious, the beer perfectly palatable, and I never quite managed to tire of hummus and tabbouleh. But something didn’t click for me. Maybe I never quite got over the traffic, and ... read more