This photo was taken without permission from the CIA website.
Mark in Lebanon, Winter 2005!
This December 2005, I had the chance to visit Lebanon. Though she may look small and insignificant compared to her neighbors, Lebanon has plenty of things crammed inside her borders! You must visit to truly experience Lebanon :)
December the 19th, 12:00 pm? Waiting for 11 hours in London. To keep myself preoccuppied, I went shopping at the duty-free! (Probably not the smartest idea I've ever had...).
December the 20th, 5:00 am. On the way to Beirut from the airport. During the winter, Lebanon is generally rainy and a bit chilly. Not shown is the silly taxi driver whose car died twice along the way and got lost at least three times and overcharged me on top of it all!
December the 20th, 9:00 pm? The hastly built towns of Jounieh and Kaslik. Honestly, I couldn't tell the difference between the two since they sort of blend in with each other. Suha, a belly dance instructor friend of mine is driving while she talks to me in English and our friend Fouad in Arabic. We were on our way to pick up Rima and deciding on where to eat in Kaslik. I was happy to try raw kibbeh...it was quite yummy!
December the 20th, 9:15 pm? Jounieh and Kaslik again. Crazy driving and crazy traffic is the Lebanese way! However, I did not see any car accident in Lebanon. I suppose drivers there are very alert? Honking your horn, even when you don't need to is a frequent habit I also notice.
December the 21th, sometime after 1:00 pm. At Barometer, a bar in Hamra, West Beirut. Barometer is a popular hangout for the artistic crowd. Rashad, being the silly man he is, has to pose funny. I don't look it but I'm quite drunk by then (drinking too much Almaza). Not shown in the photo is me dancing at Barometer to Ya Wad Ya Ta2eel, which was popularized by Soud Hosni.
December the 22th, some insane hour in the morning. Traveling out of Beirut, in a shiite suburb. This area outside of Beirut was definitely a Hizubillah strong hold, considering the many posters plastered everywhere. Also, this area was considerably poorer.
December the 22th, 9:00 am? Finally out of Beirut, going towards Baalbeck. My ears kept on popping with the sudden changes in elevation. Lebanon is quite hilly and mountainous.
December the 22th. Bekaa Valley on the way to Baalbeck. This region is the prime grape and fruit growing area in Lebanon. Also a known seat of power for Hizubillah. If you look carefully at the horizon, you can see snowy peaks.
December the 22th, mid-day. We are here! Baalbeck is arguably, the biggest and most important Roman temple complex in the Middle East. It is so big that its much larger than any Roman site in Italy. Here is a photo of a mosiac fragment in the museum.
December the 22th, mid-day. My aussie friends Tess and Lauriel. I met these gals at the hotel I was staying at.
December the 22th, mid-day. I felt like such a silly tourist but I had to do it!
December the 22th, mid-day. The entrance to Baalbeck. I could just feel the history...until the security officer had to walk by and ruin my photo!
December the 22th, mid-day. Oooooo...ahhhhh!
December the 22th, mid-day. As Keanu Reeves would say, "Whoaaah".
December the 22th, mid-day. I'm telling you, the place is huge!
December the 22th, mid-day. View of the capitals of the Temple of Jupiter.
December the 22th, mid-day. I know, I know...I'm a big dork. Notice how bloody massive those columns are.
December the 22th, mid-day. A view of the Temple of Venus and the surrounding town. We came to the temple complex right when the call of prayer was wafting up in the cool breeze.
December the 22th, mid-day. The entrance to the Temple of Baccus. Apparently, this is where the temple whores hung out!
December the 22th, mid-day. Oooo pretty :)
December the 22th, mid-day. I love this photo the best. What was great was that Baalbeck was almost completely empty that day. The drive back to Beirut was the most painful experience in memory. The bus driver drove like an insane madman!
December the 23th. 5:00 pm? Protest at the Al-Nahar building.
December the 23th. 5:00 pm? Groovy photo of Downtown. Because of the protest, it was quite empty except for the occasional Khaleeji.
December the 23th. 5:00 pm? Nice restaurants serve food along the street.
December the 23th. 5:00 pm? Another view of Downtown. Notice the fabulous French Mandate and Ottoman bulidings.
December the 23th. Wissam and I strike a pose! I was at the Helem Christmas party, eating, drinking, and dancing the night away (I certainly went all out and went partying almost every night of the week).
December the 23th. I had the chance to get to know Mohamed, a Palestinian guy who lives a bit north of Saida (Southern Lebanon). Him and his family are naturalized and legally able to live and work in Lebanon. He was a life saver since everyone at the party was speaking Arabic. We got to the subject of dance and he admitted that he is horrible at dabke (Lebanese folkloric line dance).
December the 23th. This boy is SO much fun. Samer was totally fabulous and we danced together to Rashid el Majid and Ruby. His Khaleeji was so cute and he had a mean shimmy. Christmas Eve, I met him by chance at Hamra.
December the 23th. More photos from the party! A lot of people were already drunk by then but fortunately I wasn't. I forget names really easily, but the guy who refused to pose for the camera is Tony. Very nice boy but he doesn't like Arabic music! (shocking).
December the 25th. Some time in the morning. Rawad and Haydar. Rawad is a journalist and Haydar (who drank way too much arak the night before) is a professor at some Maronite college (my brother says he looks like a vampire in this photo). We were hanging out and watching old video clips of Oum Kalsoum and belly dancers on the TV. Not shown is me belly dancing on a chair, Christmas eve at a bar in Hamra.
December the 25th. Some time in the morning. Me posing all sexy. Not sure why I posed like this but...eh whatever.
December the 26th. Don't ask me what time this photo was taken. Nathan the American dude! I met him and Amos at the hotel was staying at. They were too funny!
December the 26th. Don't ask me what time this photo was taken. Amos the other American dude and Nathan's other half, they acted like children sometimes. We went to the cinema and watched the Arabic musical Basta (think of insane dabke fusion to techno debke music).
December the 28th, mid-day. View from the sidewalk of Pigeon Rocks. This is the only natural feature of Beirut.
December the 28th, mid-day. The buildings facing the sea.
December the 28th, mid-day. Another view of Pigeon Rocks. I decided against going over the railing and taking a closer photo...the cliff drop is quite steep!
December the 28th, mid-day. I've been told by a friend that this is a popular spot to kill yourself :(....
December the 28th, mid-day. I told you it was steep!
December the 28th, mid-day. A fishing family lives on the rocks and here are their chickens. The cat is a stray...Lebanon seems to be stray cat central.
December the 28th, mid-day. Fishermen and the waves indulating across the rocks. I later saw a rather plump man take a bath in this water!
December the 28th, mid-day. I met Mohamed while I was relaxing on the rocks. We tried to have a decent conversation but we ended up having to speak in really broken Arabic/English.
December the 28th, mid-day. Mohamed brings me to Hizubillah-ville to have lunch. I'm not exactly sure why but he did pay for everything. Along the way we met a woman who looked like an aged Haifa Wehbi with a hangover.
December the 28th, mid-day. Back in Gammayze from Hizubillah-ville. Look Ma, an army tank!
December the 28th, late afternoon. I had the pleasure to get to know, Ramzi who was staying at the hotel. He is French/Tunis in Beirut for school. The night before we had dinner together and I smoked so much nagileh that I had a headache.
December the 28th, after 10:00 pm. Suha and Rima at the Glass Cafe. We booked a table so we could eat and listen to the oud and tabla guys play Lebanese folkloric music. I wish I could have been here more often, it was definitely worth it.
December the 28th, after 10:00 pm. At the Glass Cafe, a local landmark in Gemmayze. When Suha, Rima, Fouad, and I are together we definitely look quite strange! Suha is tall with big oriental eyes and pale skin while Rima is Lebanese looking with Fouad (not pictured) who is black/Lebanese while I'm the Asian guy with the long hair. Suha by the way is a fabulous Oriental dance teacher and I highly recommend studying with her if you have the chance. Her website link is on my links page.
December the 28th, after 10:00 pm. One of the owners gave me a fez (tarboush) to wear! Even though customer service in Lebanon can be rather unfortunate, I found the staff at the Glass Cafe to be quite attentive and friendly.
THE END. In just two weeks, I fell in love with Lebanon. It's truly an amazing and chaotic place that you'll love to hate that you'll love. This time around, I didn't have much time to check out the dance scene. However, next time (probably next march) I will be visiting again to take dance lessons and to watch oriental dance. I did however, do quite a bit in two weeks including watching enough Arabic music videos to vomit and partying until the wee hours of the morning like a typical Beiruti. Being back in America, I do rather miss the chaotic and beautiful craziness that is Lebanon. Until next time I suppose!