Blogs from Lebanon, Middle East - page 2

On Wednesday, November 22, I left Belgium and I took a plane from Köln/Bonn Airport to Beyrouth via Istanbul in order to visit my 2 good JCI-friends Dolly and Firas. I parked my car at a parking a bit outside of the airport. They were really nice and cheap (30€ for 4 days) and they even took pictures from all sides of my car to make sure when I come back there are no new scratches (on my way back it would turn out their pictures were bad and you can't see if your car was scratched or not so they don't have to take responsibility unless it's a really big scratch). The only wired thing was that I had to leave them my keys, but this way I can't lose them. :-) I arrived 2 ... read more

Hi folks, and a warm welcome to Beirut, a city which has weathered the storm for so long, that you might be forgiven for assuming that its' remaining fragile infrastructure after the 16 year long civil war could have easily crumbled under its own weight. Well, the Lebanese are way too forward-thinking, and the plan of reconstruction has clearly yielded some impressive results which make modern-day Beirut a city of stylish features and then some. In terms of visuals, a great place to commence this city tour is the Sursock museum, whose exterior design (a 1912 villa) hints at the interior which showcases both Lebanese and international modern art. Located slightly east of downtown Beirut, this spot is also a prime location from which to embark upon a day-long city tour on foot. Nearby Place de ... read more

The long and difficult history of Lebanon has led to a sizeable Lebanese community in my home town of Sydney. In fact I went to school with a bunch of Lebanese boys, so it's great to finally have the chance to explore the country for myself. There has been much written and spoken over the years about the interminable conflicts in the Middle East, and I'm pleased to say I can now gather a little perspective on the life of these friendly people. I've booked over a week at the Hostel Beirut, and am intent on making the most of my visit to this small but strategically important country. Beirut has always had a magical appeal for travellers, and it's a thrill and an honour to be here for the first time. The journal left off ... read more

Byblos To the north of the sprawling metropolis of Beirut is a small seaside town of Byblos. It is here where we are truly learning and embracing the concept of “old.” While it is only about 40 km away, traveling by car in this nation is an undertaking that requires patience and time. Simply translated: sit back and don’t be in a hurry because you will arrive as soon as you get there due to the fact that there are lots of cars on an overtaxed system of roads. On the surface, Byblos appears to be a nice resort town of about 40,000 people, but we’ve learned that this is only a best guess, as Lebanon has not taken an official census since 1932, due to what is explained as “confessional political balance.” As the system ... read more

As some of you know we just embarked on one of our biggest journeys in providing Passion Foundation's leadership programming, in a multi-faceted partnership, for young women in Canada and Lebanon. Nine months ago we partnered with Sarah Jamieson ; a Vancouver based woman who set a 10 year project to raise $1M for charities through running. After watching May El Khalil’s TED talk about starting the Beirut Marathon Sarah said she knew that race was what she wanted to run to end her 10 year passion project called RUN4ACAUSE. For her final race she chose to partner with our Global Sorority initiative. Together we raised friends and funds to create a partnership between the Beirut Marathon, a school in Surrey, BC and two schools in Beiru... read more