Beirut Baby!

April 14th-17th -- The Paris of the Middle East, except with pleasant people

On our way to Beirut a few weekends ago, we had to board a plane rather than use the conventional bus route through Syria. This is due to a.) me not having a visa for Syria b.) and oh yeah, it's all falling to shit there. It seems leaders after leaders fail to grasp (perhaps there isn't enough oxygen seeping into that tiny bubble they live in), that dissatisfaction should be met with reform, not tanks and bullets. Citizens are not an invading army.

Well, here we are again back to Beirut. It's a short flight, but there is enough time to strip down your layers so by the time you get there you are 2 feet of fabric away from your birthday suit. It's Beirut baby...the Middle East diluted with a generous spritz. Time to let those pale shoulders and thighs sing (to Fairuz that is)!

Beirut is instantly recognisable in that it looks like a city (please read below for a comparison to Amman which does not). We stayed at Saifi Gardens, nice hostel/Arabic language school conveniently located next to big boozie, Gemmayze, but it could have been a tad cleaner. We did the typical stroll on the Corniche at sunset, drinks in Hamra, a walk around the American University of Beirut, and H&M stop (ok, that isn't so conventional but we were with two Swedes!).

Towards the Gemmayze watering-holes we go

There are a number of bizarre things about this crazy Mediterranean town, however, (which all have explanations so keep reading on):

1.) You can get American dollars from ATMs and use it as currency
2.) Some buildings are as new as a fad and others (usually right next to the new ones) are abandoned and derelict.

3.) The most iconic and harrowing remnant of the war is the towering and heavily mortared Holiday Inn. Why the hell is it still standing?

4.) Beirut kind of looks like it could have served as the backdrop to a Buena Vista Social Club documentary.
5.) Newly restored Downtown, is pristine and quiet like a movie set.

6.) You really shouldn't take out your camera near Army men

7.) Are there really 18 religions and sects?

Lucky for us, we optioned for a "Walk Beirut" tour, which came widely recommended from like-minded travelers. It's run by ginger-haired Lebanese guy named Ronnie (he swears he's Lebanese, right) who occassionally receives help from his friends. Ronnie unraveled Beirut for us; all of it's mysteries and past glories. He told it's story like a professional, a man who knows his pauses lead to effects and to create a cohesive view of a place, once must get to know its residents. This is no easy task for a country with 18 official religions and sects who all walk above Phoenician ruins. Do you remember how your Kindergarten teacher would oscillate an open book to your illustration-hungry classmates cross-legged on the floor? It was kind of like that.

Ronnie, the ginger Beiruti

The most magical thing about Ronnie's walking extravaganza was that he answered every question we could pack into our tiny tourist brains over two days so to return to the numbered inquiries above:

1.) The dollar used to be heavily counterfeited since the Pound was the same size so they have been using them interchangeably since; even small shops now are equipped with quite sophisticated counterfeit detection devises.

2.) You cannot occupy a building until the original owner or his/her offspring (usually of the diaspora) sells the property. The Lebanese diaspora is more than 4 times the population of people actually in Lebanon and many are unaware they have inherited property! Also, many buildings on the Green Line (the division between East and West during the Civil War) were abandoned, thus adding to the juxtaposition between the new and derelict.

Uhh, does some Lebanese Brazilian want to claim me?

3.) The Holiday Inn is owned by the Emir of Kuwait who is hesitant about dismantling it and rebuilding something on the spot until Lebanon is more stable...in'shallah.

The Hostile Inn: a remnant of war

4.) Turns out that Ottoman-French-Lebanese architecture=Cuban aesthetics (at least in my eyes!)

My what a nice harem you have

5.) Solidere is the private investment firm in charge of rebuilding Beirut after the Cold War. They did such a good job that no one can afford the property Downtown.

Soulless Solidere

6.) Most of Beirut is unphotographable! You cannot take photos in some areas for security or privacy reasons.

[Not pictured]

7.) The last census was taken in 1932. Probably not.

16 more to go...

Beirut's future is perpetually indeterminate. Currently, it has no government and it is still dealing with the aftershocks of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's assassination in 2005 where a certain party of the Almighty stationed in Southern Lebanon is surely to be implicated.

The Lebanese are no stranger to war nor displacement. I am curious how people live with, around, amongst, beside war(s). I grew up with first-world guarantees that tomorrow will be as stable as today and the day before that because surely disaster would never strike a Floridian suburban town. In the words of my tour guide Ronnie after some post-tour beers, "Uncertainty means no one really talks about their future here," later he added, "And we don't discuss politics when we go out." So with that, I gulped down my beer and resigned myself to enjoy what Beirut had to offer right then and there: a two-for-one special, good chat and good company. I felt happy, buzzed, content. Three things political discussions have rarely made me feel!