some guy in lebanon

It’s been six months – Six incredible months. In that time, I’ve visited a few places in Lebanon, but I’m looking forward to seeing much more of the country this spring and summer. I’ve also traveled to Jordan and to the Netherlands, have moved into a wonderful apartment in Hamra, resigned from the Daily Star, made a living as a consultant, and am looking at the next year as a mystery, but an opportunity as well. Three months ago I wrote a list of what I’d learned after 87 days - Well it’s been another three months, and it’s time to think a little about what I’ve learned in 180 days.

First, I’d like to recount the following highlights from that list:

• One does not need hot water to survive, leading also to the conclusion that,
• One does not heed hot showers to survive.
• It is impossible to weigh friends against anything else – Good friends and people you can trust is incredibly valuable.
• The Lebanese make especially good hamburgers.
• Captains Cabin will not close until 4am or later if you keep buying drinks.
• This certainly is an incredible country, and I have so many wonderful people here to thank for helping me get through these past three months.

I wrote that three months ago – all still hold true, although my life is now filled with plenty of hot water. I’d like to write a new list as I’ve just crossed the six-month barrier, if you’ll indulge me:

• Hot water is wonderful, especially in the form of the hot tub at Lifestyles Gym, which is as big as my apartment (and my apartment is fairly large)
• Having money in my pocket that I earned by proving my worth in the Middle East is an indescribable feeling
• A balcony that the sun hits all morning is a valuable asset for relaxing
• Free to time to practice chess means that Nick no longer beats me in embarrassing fashion – It also means I win sometimes too
• Working out is wonderful, and a gym is worth every penny
• The south of Lebanon is beautiful, and travel advisories against going down there are a joke
• Knowing how to take a service-taxi across town in Arabic saves mountains of money
• I can’t speak French and probably never will
• I barely speak Arabic and that’s not likely to change
• Quiet cups of coffee in the Mediterranean sun at Cafe Younes on Sundays are glorious

There’s so much more, but I’ll leave it at that – My last day at the Daily Star is on Friday – I’m moving on bigger and better things, all of which I had to sign Non-Disclosure Forms for, so I can’t share, but let’s just say that my clients include one of the biggest banks in Lebanon.

Oh, and here’s a great picture of Nick, Andrew, and myself in the lovely and extremely historical Tyre, where Cleopatra seduced Mark Antony. It was also the sight of some serious partying last weekend. Andrew Wander, by the way, has been hired by Al Jazeera to write for their new Human Rights Abuses desk. Unfortunately that means he’s leaving us for Doha, Qatar – Although we all know he won’t be able to stay away for long…

I hope everyone’s well back home – I’ll be back in July for a few weeks – if you actually take the time to read this blog, I hope to see you then!

The Dao that can be experienced is not true;
The world that can be constructed is not true.
The Dao manifests all that happens and may happen;
The world represents all that exists and may exist.
-Dao De Jing