Beirut Report XII

What with being dumped and all, it was quite a fun weekend. Seriously, though, I did have a good weekend, up in the mountains as usual. Friday we went to the kickoff of the "Emigrants Festival", which is an excuse to have an event and is supposedly held to honor those who've emigrated back to Lebanon, of which there are quite a few. It culminates with the "Miss Emigrant" contest, though I'll be away for that (if you recall, I did see Miss Lebanon, who is from D'hour). The organizers were so desperate for performers at the well-attended event that my cousin and her friends were putting their heads together to see if they could come up with something -- halfway through the evening!!

Saturday we had a pleasant lunch at Dalia's house, with the whole crowd in attendance. Afterwards I got dumped, played some "Crazy Eights" and taught Dalia and Nassib "Beat Your Neighbor Down The Stairs" aka "Egyptian Rat War" aka "Birdo". Dalia won that game despite having only a vague idea of the mechanics of the game. Then I got dumped, and after talking amicably with Dalia for a while went down the street to Nassib's place, where I helped him and his father pot geraniums. They have a small farm, and when they're not in Winsor, Ontario, they're making things grow over here. Working with soil is quite therapeutic; it was just what the doctor ordered to get my mind off of second-guessing Dalia and onto something tangible. Nassib and I went out to water the broccolli after the geraniums were potted, and he pointed out that the next field on their small plot - which was overgrown and unplanted - was a minefield. They'd cleared the land a couple years ago they currently used using a massive tractor, which could take the blows of the anti-personnel mines. It hadn't gotten all of them, though, and one blew up in Nassib's father's face when he swung a pickaxe into it last summer (his face was burnt, but thank God he was alright otherwise). Anyway, the tractor thing worked pretty well until they hit some anti-vehicle mines, which sent the front of the tractor ten feet into the air. I asked if they used to throw rocks to try and trigger mines in the other fields when they were younger; he said that they still do, though without success. All in all, I was fascinated.

Today we got up bright and early and took a day trip to the nearby Beqaa valley. For me, the drive across the mountains was a high point. D'hour-alShweer seems to be the end of Beirut's massive suburban sprawl; after it, the land gets empty and seems much less marred by the nondescript concrete monstrosities so popular in the Middle East. The Valley itself is almost like a different country - most people are poor, Muslim, and farmers, and the functioning government in much of the Valley is Hezbollah. However, we stayed on our own side, the western edge of the valley, and it's quite peaceful now anyway, though supposedly last week's shooting in Beirut sparked some sectarian tensions. We visited the two large wineries - Kefraya and Ksara - and tasted eight very diverse wines at the first, much calmer, venue. After that, we prayed briefly below a statue of the Virgin Mary overlooking Zahle (the cult of Mary is very strong here, and the Lebanese like icons in general). Then we went to Araaby, one of Lebanon's best-known places and the culinary center of the Arab world. I'd eaten there before with school, and with just eight of us this meal was less glamorous, but the food was excellent nonetheless.

Phew, it's late and I have a headache and class in the morning... I'm just glad I slept in the car on the way down to Beirut. Hey, it's not funny - you try sleeping in a car on a road that's all switchbacks!