Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Beaufort Castle and Wadi Jezzine

The weather here right now is amazing. Mid 70s and mostly sunny! We are taking full advantage before the extreme heat moves in.

On Sunday we got the opportunity to travel for the day with our friends Andree and Eddie. We went to Southern Lebanon and had a great day. The weather was perfect and we saw some really, really beautiful things.  We drove through Saida which is known to have escalations in violence but we just drove right through and didn't stop so we had no problems. Most of the time though Saida can is safe, it just is not a very vibrant or intriguing city. Whenever I ask cab drivers or locals about Saida I get a very mixed review, some people say it is a most see and others say there is no reason to go. I have to say just seeing it from the car, I agree with the latter but that might not be fair.

 On the way through Saida a man had these pelicans out. Andree and I said they were real but Eddie and Michael didn't believe us because they are not found here, so we turned around and went back for a second look. Our assumption is that the man is selling them. They seemed to be friends and were very affectionate!
The Israelis' lived in this castle because it is on a high bluff and they can see anyone coming. They built look out rooms out front of the castle. The castle is mostly in ruins now but you can still see a few rooms and hallways.  It is very close to the Israeli border so we went through many check points and were turned around once because they do not let Americans too close to the border encase they are spies for Israel. I will have to remember on the next trip to bring my work permit and maybe a copy of my passport because I had no real ID to show the military and when they come to your car with their automatic weapons and long knives, I would like to be prepared. Nevertheless, the military and the locals we met on this road trip could not have been nicer and more helpful.



 At one point during our visit we saw a animal that we did not recognize and then a few minutes later we heard a loud gun shot ring out. I think a local man took out our mystery animal..haha.  I don't think I have ever been so close to a real rifle being shot.  It other places it would be illegal to randomly fire your gun next to a public tourist spot, but ahh This is Lebanon and he had no bad intentions.
 This is a cathedral in Jezzine. It is a small town in Lebanon and it is beautiful. This is where Michael and I found our first Lebanese waterfall. All of the next few pictures are Jezzine!





We had such a great day and it was so nice to see a new side of Lebanon. Beirut is the opposite of green and open. The road signs are terrible and mostly in Arabic so we got really lucky that Eddie drove us around and handled all the directions for us, this would have been a very expensive trip with a taxi or an impossible trip alone.  We ate lunch at a restaurant over looking the waterfall. One wish I have  for Lebanon is that it would start a clean-up/environment campaign because all the beauty was slightly distorted with trash. There was a huge pile of garbage under the waterfall and leading up to it. I am not sure what can be done about it, but it definitely makes me think twice about my own affects on the environment. I am not sure when Lebanon got this attitude of just drop it on the ground but if something isn't done about it soon, Lebanon will lose even more of its natural beauty.  Overall, though it was one of the prettiest places I have seen and getting out of the city is always a special treat. It helps remind me when I am homesick or lonely, I am one lucky girl.

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Birthday Week

Even though we were back to school after Spring Break for my birthday, I had a really fantastic week! It ended up being much more exciting than anticipated, mostly thanks to Michael and my friend Andree. Of course, everyone I know here and back home made it special but Andree ended up having a friend in town and I tagged along on their adventures.

On the Wednesday before my birthday. I went with Andree on a Rocche Rock boat trip. There are two giant rocks off the coast near our house and you can take a very small boat and drive through them. The whole thing lasted about 5 minutes, I think we got the American trip instead of the local trip.  I was unsure if the boat would stay afloat and the man kept encouraging us to move around our body weight, I ended up the only one on one side of the boat between the 4 of us and I tried not to take it personally..=) I am sure he just felt that I was more stable than the other girls..

Here is a picture of our boat that a 13 year old walked us to.  As we walked down to the boat, several locals hanging out on the Corniche were quite proud of the 13 year old for wrangling up a couple of American women. One man was kind enough to tell me he loved me! We walked down a "cliff" that is a bit of an extreme word but I don't know a better one right now, I guess a hill but that doesn't really do it justice either, that had no steps just a slight trail to find our boat. It was an adventure all by itself.

The water felt warm and was so blue, we went inside one small tunnel/cave and then through the rocks. Here is a view from the boat.

After the boat trip we went to Zeituny Bay, I think I misspelled it but it means olive in Arabic for a drink. It was beautiful there and I am going to push Michael to spend more time there. It is a boat dock for really expensive boats, as well as a strip of fancy restaurants and shops. It also has a pool in the summer. A few of the restaurants are affordable enough for us and we can just go for drinks and to be in a quieter spot.

Then we were off to our Lebanese 101 cooking class. We went to a place called Tawla (again I think) It was featured on Anthony Bourdains visit to Beirut. Everyday they have a different woman come and she creates a buffet for lunch. It is only open for about 4 hours everyday. They have 26 women chefs in all that take turns. So, you eat that day whatever she has prepared. It is pricey but a very nice space. So, we took a cooking class from one of the rotating chefs. We made Tabbouleh (which is a type of salad) everything has to be chopped very finely and it takes a lot of time. It is not my favorite dish here in Lebanon but was quite good this time.  Then we made hummus and kebbe in laban.  Kebbe is something I think Michael has blogged about and finally found the answer to but this Kebbe is a football shaped meat-filled treat. The outside (the football) is meat and some other ingredients and then you sautee meat and onions and spices and stuff it inside then bake them and then put in Laban. (Laban is a yogurt based food).
Everything was so delicious and the class was really fun. How much of it I re-create at home will be a different question.


On my actual birthday, I had to go to a guest speaker allllll day! But then I got to go to a delicious Armenian dinner with Michael at a new place we had not tried yet. Armenian food is a lot like Lebanese but spicier. We ate Chee Kufta/Kibbeh Nayyeh-which is  a raw meat dish, a lot like steak tartar. Then we had spicy fried potatoes, and quail eggs with meat on toast. We had a couple other dishes but those didn't make the picture. Everything was amazing!! Mom, I can see you scrunching up your face as you read this.


Then the Friday after my birthday again with Andree, I went on my first mini-bus experience.  Which ended up much better than expected. There is no public transportation in Beirut, so there are vans you can read in for about a dollar that stop and pick up and drop off people along the way. I think they go anywhere. So, we got on one and rode to Jabiel/Byblos which is an amazing coastal town. As we rode along, we picked up 4 guys from the military and 2 other random men. The bus had seats for 8 or 9 but I think would have taken more if there were people waiting.  Andree can speak really good Arabic and French, so she had a good time talking and translating for all of us.  It was quite an experience.  I am always very aware of how little I know in Arabic when I am in a situation with fluent, non-english speakers of Arabic. I get very few words. Thankfully, Arabic classes started up again this week.

Finally, on Saturday we had a building and friends BBQ on our rooftop and it was perfect. The weather was a little cool but it is going to be so hot soon we are enjoying it while we can. So, it was a great simple evening with good people. I really appreciate everyone being so sweet to me in a new place on the big 30.  I am totally fine with turning 30, I actually feel like I have a lot to be proud of and have accomplished quite a bit and probably more than some people thought I would in my 30 years. I was just having a hard time reaching a milestone with the people I know best and longest. But, my friends here really rallied around me and made my 30th birthday perfect. I am so grateful for my Fadllalah second family! Here are some pictures from the BBQ..











My building friends