Four Weeks.

It is hard to believe that I have been here for a month already. It has really flown by. To start off with, this weekend I went to Tripoli, which is in the north of the country, about 85 km from Beirut. I took the bus and it was good because they all came by and I waited for the one that said: طرابلس "Trablus" in Arabic, which is the Arabic name for Tripoli. Yet another instance where literacy really paid off.

It was about an hour and 15 minutes to get there and I got off the bus and just walked in the direction of the signs saying "Centre Ville". Another instance where my limited French really paid off. I found a big open square with a clock tower in it, so I figured that must be one of the landmarks. Anyways, I walked in the direction which I thought the "Souq" was in because there was also a sign that said "Ville historique" or something to that effect. So I found the old part of the city with narrow cobblestone streets with no cars. That is where the souq is. I walked through all the shops with food and clothing and brick a brack. I ended up walking out of the old part and stumbling upon this big stone building with no windows. An old building, like a fort. There were tanks and soldiers all around, so I didn't know if I could go in, but it turns out it was the "citadel", another landmark, and it's, I don't know, 500 years old or what ever. It's an old castle. Since it's in the guidebook, I think you can go in and look around, but I didn't. At that point I was feeling a little overwhelmed because I couldn't quite get my bearings. I decided to walk back to the clock tower and figure it out from there.

So... I did. The guide book has maps in it, so I used it to figure out where I was in relation to everything else. I walked around the newer part of the city, which was nice. Just like any city. I then decided to walk towards the big cemetery. And as I was at the front gate an older guy and a young women were walking out. The guy said hello, so I said hello and he said where are you from? England? Ireland? And I said, the United States. People often mistake me for English or Irish by looks, and you know I like that. Anyways, he asked if I was a tourist and all that and he asked if I needed a guide. I said no, thanks and then he said, ok, well let me give you my card. And he did, and lo and behold, he was actually a guide in Tripoli! Not just a guy who wanted me to pay him to show me around. (Which happened constantly in Morocco). Then I said thanks and he told me how to get to some of the landmarks in Tripoli, which was really nice. I followed his directions and got to see some cool Mosques. Then I wandered through the souq again.

As I was walking back in the direction where the buses were, a guy said to me: Parlez vous Francais? And I said no. He said where are you from? Do you speak English? I said yes, I'm from the United States. He then told me he was an English teacher and that he speaks lots of languages. And so we chatted about Lebanese migration. He told me that the Lebanese have friends and family all over the world and that makes it easier to live and work abroad. And he told me about how Lebanon is very multicultural and so forth.

Then, my friends, he told me about his love life. He said that he was in love with French women. That he divorced his Lebanese wife in order to be with this French women, Emmylou, and move to France with her. However, he hadn't declared his love for her yet. So, he said, tomorrow I am going to have her to my home and make a nice meal and tell her that I love her and want to marry her and move to France. And then, he showed me the poem he wrote for her. It was in French so he translated it for me. It went like, you know, your hair shines like the moon, your eyes are beautiful, etc. The most striking line, and the final line of the poem however, went like this: "The Jews crucified Jesus Christ on the cross. And you, have crucified me on the cross of love." (He was a Maronite Christian). Very romantic, n'est pas?

So after that I went to a little place to get something to drink and relax. I had fresh squeezed orange juice and watched the end of the Brazil vs. Portugal game. It was a tie. After that I took a taxi van home and sat in the front seat next to a Lebanese soldier.

Anyways, that was the weekend, and this week I worked and started the Arabic courses. They seem good so far. The teachers are good, and it is nice to be studying it again. The kids in the class are nice too, there's only 7 total. Later I'm going to watch one of the world cup games with a couple guys from my class.

Work is going well and on Wednesday a group of Americans of Lebanese origin came to visit NDU and LERC did a presentation for them, which I got write up for the website. And today I met with Dr. Sensenig about all the information I have been researching.

This weekend I think I'm going to go to the Jeita Grotto, which has the world's largest stalactite. And maybe I'll go to another town in Mount Lebanon.

(I meant to post this last night but I forgot.)

Thursday Night.

So, yesterday after work one of my co-workers Ms. Haddad gave me a little tour of some towns on the coast and then dropped me off in Jounieh. It was a nice tour and it is really beautiful with all the mountains and the sea, and you can always see both of them. And trees. It's great. In any case, Ms. Haddad dropped me off in front of a cable car that runs from Jounieh at the bottom of the mountain to Harissa up on the mountain, about 600 meters elevation, or 2000 feet. So almost twice the height of Bristol Mountain (Which, by the way, according to Wikipedia is 1,200 feet elevation making it actually a mountain, barely. (Wikipedia also says 1,000 is generally considered the lowest elevation to be considered a mountain.)). So, you get in this little four person cable car and it runs up the mountain over the highway and through these apartment buildings and then up to the (almost) top. And then there is a funicular that takes you like 50 feet or something. I just walked after the cable car up to the top. At the top is a huge statue on kind of a spiral pillar, like a ziggurat, for those of us who remember 6th grade ancient history. It's not actually one, but it looks like that with a statue on top. The statue is the Virgin of Lebanon and it's been there since the 19th century. Incidentally there are tons of statues in Lebanon. All over Zouk Mosbeh there are religious statues. So, that was pretty neat and the view was really great. Lebanon has a curvy coast so there are lots of bays I guess and you can see them all jut out into the Mediterranean.

I just created a Picasa account and posted a bunch of pictures there. Some are on Facebook but I'm going to put more on Picasa for those who aren't on Facebook and also I always feel a little weird posting lots of pictures on Facebook, like I'm showing off. So this way, anyone who wants to take a look can, but doesn't have to.

Here is the address:
http://picasaweb.google.com/jkeyel

Then I took the cable car back down, and let me tell you I was a little nervous at first. I love heights but it is still a little nerve-wracking to be suspended by a metal cable (which by the way, looked a tiny bit frayed). But I'm sure it was fine because as we were waiting in line two guys were doing maintenance on one of the cars.

So then I walked through Jounieh and stopped at a fast food place (Lebanese, not Burger King or anything), that I'd seen in the car on the way there. I got Tawouk, which is a pita with french fries, pickles, coleslaw, ketchup, mayo and chicken. Kind of like a Shawarma, but different. It was good. Then I walked through Jounieh and along the coast through Kaslik, which is a little town or place with lots of fancy stores like Zara and Puma and what have you, but very nice. There is also a movie theater, which is good to know. And anyways, I decided I'd just keep walking and walk back instead of getting a taxi or bus. Which worked out well because I saw another patisserie and decided to give it another try. I went in and asked for Knefe, which is a Lebanese thing I hadn't tried yet. Then the girl behind the counter launched into something in Arabic to which I responded anaa la afham, meaning I don't understand. Then she said, What language do you speak? in English, so I said English. Then she explained what the Knefe is, but it's cheese with cream, so I said no thanks, and looked at some other stuff. Then the other girl behind the counter asked if I wanted to try this and that, and I probably tried 5 pieces of 5 different things. So after the samples I was already full! But this time I again ordered more than I was going to. Not because of a miscommunication, but because everything was so good that I couldn't resist. So I got a bunch of different pastries: some with pistachios, some with honey like baklava, and some with almonds. All in all, it was very successful. I now have dessert for a while. This bakery was pretty close to where I get a taxi up to the campus so I walked there, crossing the highway in the human game of Frogger that is getting around Lebanon and got a taxi up to NDU.
The funny thing is in the taxi the guy asked where I was from and I said the United States. Then he went to light a cigarette and then he said: "Do you want one?" I said no, but see, it's not just passengers who share with drivers, drivers offer passengers too. Also, as an aside, not once has a taxi driver tried to charge me more than I should pay.

In other news, I don't know if I mentioned it, but there are fireworks at least 4 times a week. From all directions I hear pop pop, boom boom and then I have to go out on the balcony and try and find where they are. And Wednesday night at like 11:00 p.m., some loud explosions scared the hell out of a half asleep me.

Alright.

Week 3ish.

So, it's been almost a week since the last time I posted. It is hard to believe that I have been in Lebanon for three weeks already. This past weekend I went into Beirut again, to the "downtown". It is super nice. And it no joke looks just like any other quaint European city with narrow cobblestone streets and cafes, complete with soccer ball shaped Hookahs. I guess it's like 15 years old or something, it was built after the civil war, I am supposing. The only difference between downtown Beirut and say, Madrid or Napoli are the police officers with assault rifles and barracks at all of the entrance points. You don't have to go through a security check or anything, I think they are mostly there to keep cars out, it's a car free zone. In any case, again, for those worried about security, I've yet to feel unsafe. It is strange though how perceptions of safety shift. In the United States I don't think I would like it if there were RPD officers milling around everywhere in camo with AR-15's slung over their shoulders. But I think I take it as a sign that things are under control here when I see convoys of army lorries drive by full of young soldiers and tanks parked at various intersections in Beirut.

Work is going well, tomorrow will be the end of my third week. Which is crazy. Next week I am meeting with Dr. Sensenig, a professor here at NDU and the guy for whom I am doing research. He will be writing the reports which I think are going to IOM (the International Organization for Migration). It's funny that work days go by a lot faster when there is actually work to do, as opposed to having nothing to do for weeks on end. Anyways, it is nice to be working on something as an intern that is actually contributing. I luckily have never found myself in a position where they want me to fetch coffee or make copies.

In other news, the US won last night in a real nail biter. Germany won too. So hopefully Germany will embarrass England when they play next and the US will beat Ghana.

Also, on the way back from Beirut I met a guy on the bus and got to chatting. He was a young guy from the north of the country. We saw a traffic accident on the road and he said they happen all the time in Lebanon, and that there are 4 million people in Lebanon and 2 million cars. I think a funny thing is that in some of the buses and van taxis there are front seats next to the driver and people sit in the front and talk with the driver and share cigarettes and stuff. I don't know whether that happens in the US. For one thing you can't smoke on buses in the US.

In other news I sent out four job applications. So, we will see. I've got to keep applying to more.

Anyways...

Week 2.

Well let me start off by relating this anecdote: I went to the fancy pastry shop near the university for the first time today. I've wanted to go but I was a little nervous. Anyways I went in and there were two very nice young guys working behind the counter. So I looked at the wares, and I saw some triangles that looked like turnovers. And I thought they were probably filo dough filled with honey and nuts or something, like baklava. Anyways, I wanted one. They said in English which one do you want? I pointed and they said how many, I thought. I said one and put up one finger then said waHid. Which is one in Arabic. And then he said six is six, in English. Or so I thought. So I thought he meant six of these things for 6,000 l.l. Which is a good deal so I said yes, ok. I go to pay first and he said six plus six twelve. I thought it was a miscommunication and that the price was 12,000 for six, which is still not bad, it is a fancy place so, whatever. He rings it up and it is 18,000, like 13 bucks. So I was like, oh, jeez, this is expensive, maybe I will just not come here again. I pay and I wait for them to get the pastries and lo and behold it's not six and they are not what I thought they were! They are filo dough with honey and then they are filled with cheese, ricotta maybe? And then covered in chopped pistachios. And there are 12, not six! So in reality I ordered like a party platter of pastries. They also came with a 500 ml bottle of sugar syrup. All in all, I ordered way too much, but it was a good deal. Unfortunately I don't even know if I can eat these behemoths because of the cheese. (For those who don't know, I've recently become lactose intolerant, I simply won't tolerate it). I think I'll bring them to work on Monday for the office. They should keep in the fridge right?

Anyways, this week flew by. Work was good. I'm doing some different stuff like making a country profile up with statistics of Iraq and a timeline of events stuff like that. There is Lebanese coffee a lot so that is good too. I also finished the article and a summary of it for the website and I think also a magazine later on, so that is really cool.

Tuesday I got in touch with a girl named Lamis who graduated from Maxwell in the IR program last year (she is Lebanese) and she lives in Beirut. So we met up at the American University in Beirut and she showed me around the campus. It is nice.

It was a long night because on the way there I got off the bus too early and I ended up walking for like an hour and then to get home all the taxis wanted 10,000 to take me to where the bus was, but Lamis and the security guard at AUB said only pay 4,000, so I walked again for another hour through Beirut at night. It was nice actually. I got to see the big Mosque near Martyr's Square all lit up. And I walked through what I think is downtown Beirut and it is all brand new and looks like Europe. So tomorrow or Sunday I'm going during the day to check it out. I might also go to Jounieh since I over shot it last weekend. (I also think I spelled it differently before. The Google map has it that way, but it's Arabic, so I guess it doesn't really matter how it is transliterated. In Arabic it is: جونية
 
Something funny about taxis and/or buses: The driver is usually guy, Lamis said there aren't any female drivers and the Lonely Planet says that too, anyways, you stand on the side of the road. And when a bus or a taxi comes by they honk and if you gesture to them they stop and you say where you want to go, or the direct you are going in, I guess. With the buses they usually shake their head no or say yes and you get in. But the taxis, and I think especially the taxis that are vans, they stop. You go to the window and say Beirut, for example. If he is going that way he opens the door (it's like a mechanical sliding door like a minivan) and he ever so slightly flicks his head in the direction of the door you get in. (You know how cool guys say "Sup? And quickly flick their head up? It's like that only to the side) If he isn't going that way he just drives away. No words usually. 
In any case I think that's about it for right now again.

The Next Post.

So, this weekend was good. We had the workshop on Saturday about survey techniques and interview skills. The first part was an overview of Iraqi migration for the last 30 or 40 years and then the presenter gave some general info about survey techniques, how to act, how to be respectful and stuff like that. For example, he talked about interviews he has done with Palestinian refugees where he will go into someone's home and everyone is sitting on the floor and they sit him in the middle of the room on the only chair. Which is a funny thing to think about. But that, you know, you would want to refuse and sit on the floor too, as not to be in a position of power over anyone. So that was interesting and then after a break for food and coffee they did simulation interviews. The first one was in Arabic with the presenter and an Iraqi student. I can't say that I completely got, but I understood some stuff. Where are you from? Which city in Iraq? Which district? When did you come to Lebanon? Stuff like that. But like I said, everyone speaks in a dialect, so the interviewer was speaking his dialect, which is Syrian maybe? And the student was speaking Iraqi Arabic. I did pick up that the word for 'yes' is 'eh'. (Like Canadians). Which is funny because in standard Arabic it is 'na'am'. So, completely different. The workshop was good and I got to talk to some of the students there and to the presenter who is a scholar who does a lot of research on refugees and migration.
Again, they must have read my mind, because I got to take home the leftovers, so I have been eating those for the last three days and I still have a lot. Score.

The presenter, Dr. Dorai, told me that the most beautiful part of Lebanon is the very south where the 'security zone' (aka where the Israelis occupied for 20 years) is. He said that was the only good thing about the occupation that this area wasn't developed so it is pristine and wild and what not. I would really love to go down there. He said I should just go with someone who knows the area. (The Israelis aren't occupying anymore for anyone who doesn't know). But, he said, the only thing you have to worry about is the Israelis attacking again. Then he laughed. And then I laughed. Isn't that exactly what I told everyone who was worried about safety here? That the biggest concern would be that.

In any case then on Sunday I decided I would go to a town called 'Juniyah', which is up the coast from Beirut I think like 15 or 20km. So I walked down the hill and caught the bus. No problem. So we went and  I saw signs for Juniyah come and go and I missed my opportunity to get off. I don't know whether I said, but like in Morocco, there aren't really bus stops you just stand on the side of the road and wait for a bus to come and then you just tell the driver where to let you off when you want to get off. Anyways, so I thought, well, I'll just ride until I see somewhere that looks interesting and I'll get off. So we drive and drive and we get farther and farther from where I came from. But then I saw signs for 'Jbeil' which is another town I wanted to check out so I figured, I'll just ride till then and then get off. And voila! I did. No problem. And, I didn't know how much it would cost so I gave the driver 10,000 l.l. around 6 bucks and I got 8,000 back. So it only cost 1.66 to take a 40km bus ride! Which I think is pretty darn good. It's not cheap here, I would say groceries things like that are roughly the same price as in the U.S. but that is super cheap.

So I got out near Jbeil and walked into the town and it was really nice. I put a few pictures up on Facebook of it. It has like an old town section which is all cobblestone and what have you so that was really nice and when Zibby comes we are going to go back. There are tons of restaurants and sidewalk cafes things like that. There is also a 'souq', or a market with the typical wares, chessboards, hookahs, postcards, Madonnas. I think it is a mostly Christian town, so there were a lot of crosses and icons for sale. It was really different than being in a souq in Morocco. Not one person asked me into their shop, or followed me around trying to take me into their 'brother's' or their 'uncle's' shop. Which is very nice. Much more pleasant.
There's also a ruined castle from Roman times maybe? I didn't read any of the info, I just went in and walked around and took pictures. It was really nice because it was right on the water and the mountains are in the background. Also one of my co-workers said you can take a boat around too, so, something else Zibby and I might do. Around the town, not the castle, there's no moat.

After that I took the bus back and then a cab back to the University. I had a very nice cab driver who wanted to know where I was from and there was a women and her little son in the front seat. As an aside, I also saw a man driving a vespa type scooter onto the highway, as I was walking up the on ramp, and he had his wife on the back and she was holding a baby in her arms. I thought it was quite the sight and in the U.S. they would be ridiculed as negligent parents ala Brittney Spears' baby on her lap incident, and honestly it's not super safe, but I think some people in the U.S. are so super uptight about things like that. As if you are the worst parent in the world if you do not properly secure your child in the correct car seat. We used to ride around in the back of the pick-up. Anyways... Today I had my internship again and that was good. I worked more on the bibliography I have been working on and the report I am doing for the workshop on Saturday. I also had more Lebanese coffee, which is like Turkish coffee. Very good.

On another note the World Cup is in full swing and they show the games on a big screen on campus which is cool. They also show all the games on several cable channels that I get in my room so I watched two today and there is one on right now. Ghana beat Serbia today. And The Netherlands beat Denmark, and that was a good game. The U.S. tied England which is amazing. But, in any case, I am rooting for Germany who trounced Australia the other day.

Well that's about it.

Jake.

First Week Of My Intership.

It's Friday evening and the work week is done... well, not exactly. The Center is having an event tomorrow so I only get half a weekend this week. That's ok, I guess. Everyone likes to work 6 days a week. The event is a training on survey techniques and research methods, so it should actually be interesting/informative. And... I get to write up a summary of the event and they will post it on their website, which is cool.

The work is going well I think, it's the first time that I've done a research position but I do a lot of reading and finding information and writing bibliographies; things like that so far. I think it is good experience and I already put it on my resume so, you know. I think I might do the summer Arabic program here, but it doesn't start until the beginning of July. Which is good because it's intensive, but I would like to learn some for the next three weeks, I feel very strange now because I go into stores and say a word or two in Arabic and that works because the person doesn't speak English or I say it in English and they speak perfect English! I want to try more Arabic but I don't know with whom it is easier to just speak English. Maybe this is wrong, but I assume the people with higher education levels are more likely to speak English. But how to you know who has more education? In any case... that's about it, my week was kind of uneventful. Hopefully I will meet some more people soon (though, I don't know where) so I'll have more interactions to talk about.

Interesting things:

1. I remembered that when we went to lunch last Friday, Chinese as you remember, I was in the car with two guys from the Center, and the one guy asked me if I had been to the Middle East before. And I kind of went, umm... So he said, "If you've been to Israel, don't say..." So I said "Ok, in that case, I haven't been to Israel, but I have been to...." The guy is Lebanese I think, but he grew up in either South America or Connecticut, I was told both. I think he was kidding, half. Honestly, if I lived in a country whose southern neighbor had bombed it continuously for a month in 2006, destroying the airport and roads and bridges and killing over 1,000 people, I wouldn't necessarily have warm feelings about it either. I would really like he hear what people have to say about it. It's too soon for me to ask yet, but I want to. Since I was in Israel during the war, I'd like to know what the experience was for people here.

2. The director of the Center came into my office the other day and asked how it was going, how I liked it dot dot dot. And I said, "yeah I like it, it's going well, it's very beautiful in Lebanon." And she said "Well, as you can see I am fishing for compliments," and we laughed and then she said, "what do you think of it here? Is it what you expected?" I was in the war, but don't worry, I only kill people who attack me." Ha! Again, I don't know what percent of that was a joke but I think most of it. She laughed when she said it, so it was obviously a joke, but I don't know, maybe she did participate, not in the 2006 war, but maybe the 1975-1990 civil war. She would have been pretty young then, but who knows? It was funny and made me curious.

3. The guy I share an office with, whose name I heard once and can't remember, and now it's been a week so it's that awkward we've known each other long enough that I should know his name. Well anyways, he asked if I'd had Lebanese coffee yet. I hadn't. And I said "Is there anything special about Lebanese coffee?" And he said, "Hashish. It is mixed with Hashish." Then he said, "No, I'm just joking." But I really believed him for a split second! I wasn't expecting a deadpan joke like that. And as you all well know, I have been accused of having the same voice for both sarcasm and serious talk, but even I was fooled.

Also, I applied for a job at Human Rights Watch yesterday. It would be sweet if I got it.

Ok, that's it.

Jake.

Weekend 1

So it's been a few days. Here's what I have been up to: Saturday I walked down the mountain a. to see if I could and b. to see if I could find my way to Beirut. I walked down and it took me about half an hour and along the way was some pretty cool stuff, like doll that looks like Santa dressed as a Middle Easterner that just stands there and dances on the side of the road. I got to the bottom to what I thought was the highway, where I could catch a bus to Beirut, but I chickened out. I wasn't sure if it was the right place so I just took a rest and then got a cab back up to the University. So in Beirut there are taxis and taxi service. Taxis are taxis and they are expensive. Taxi Service is a shared taxi that goes along a route like a bus. However, unlike Rabat, which also had this, there is no way to tell which is which. In Rabat old white Mercedes are shared taxis and every other cab is just a taxi. Here the taxis and buses all have red license plates but the taxis are old Mercedes, new Mercedes, vans, Renaults, anything. And... taxis and buses here drive by and just honk. So you hear them honk and if you want to get it you just wave and they will stop and wait. Anyways, I asked if it was a shared taxi and he said, "What ever you like" and I said "ok". And he said "Where are you going?" "NDU" I said, then again I said "Is this taxi service?" "How ever you like." So I got in and said "How much?" "As you like." Which isn't really that helpful to hear. I pulled out 1000 L.L. and he said it's 2000 L.L. (which is like $1.33). That's how much a shared taxi is, he said. Which is true. But I don't know why he didn't just say that to begin with! I have taken taxis in a lot of places and I will tell you, I hate it when they don't have meters. I really don't like haggling with taxi drivers. I much prefer buses. It is always a set price and no one tries to rip you off.

Nothing else really that interesting happened Saturday. I finished a book I think, though. I've been reading a lot. Mostly detective novels. I finished Knots and Crosses. The first Inspector Rebus novel. Oh, I also got a SIM card for my cell phone Saturday, so if anyone wants to call that for any reason just let me know and I can send you the number.

Since it was a false start on Saturday, I decided I would try and go to Beirut again yesterday. This time I asked the security guard at the campus gate, who by the way, said he lived in St. Paul for a while and spoke urban slang English perfectly. He also said his name was Tony. So, I don't know, I'll probably talk to him again when I see him. He told me basically the same thing as everyone else so I decided I would walk down again and see if I ended up in the right place. It turned out that on Saturday I had been in the right spot! I had to walk down the on ramp to the highway, I followed some other guys, and there was a bus at the bottom going to Beirut. I got to Beirut and just wandered around and ended up at Martyr's Square, which has a big mosque and is one of the spots to see. Unfortunately everything was closed because it was Sunday, at least in the predominately Christian sections, which is where I mostly was I think. Just like the rest of the country Beirut itself has areas that are Christian, or Shia, or Sunni... etc. The Shiite area is in south Beirut and at some point I think I will try and check it out, since I was told it was ok. I would actually like to see some Hezbollah flags. Don't worry, though, I'll just check it out in broad daylight and quick. But really though, it was interesting in Beirut because unlike some other cities, Cairo, Rabat, Fez, no one bothered me. No one tried to get me to buy anything or tried to give me a tour expecting money. Nothing. I must either a. not stick out quite as much here because it's so cosmopolitan or b. the culture is different in that way. I liked it. One guy did say I think "Parlez vous francais?" But I wasn't sure. I looked at him like I didn't hear but he just went back to waiting for the bus. Oh well. There are a lot of South Asians in Lebanon I guess, so I saw a lot of people who could be Sri Lankan or Indian or Pakistani. I was told there is a sizable Sri Lankan community. Anyways, I walked around a lot and walked through an area that was definitely Christian and had at least one Armenian church. I found my way back to the bus and made it back to NDU without a problem. When I got back I had my first Shawarma of the summer. Let me tell you, it was so good. Pickles, chicken, french fries, tahina sauce, and salad in a pita. Perfection.

Then today I had work again. I did research again all day today. Reading articles and pulling out the relevant information. Tomorrow we are going to take a look at it and hopefully do some other stuff. It is good experience and its way better than making copies and stuff because I am actually working on something. But, hopefully I will have a varied routine. I also need to figure out where/when I'll be doing Arabic while I'm here.

Finally some other interesting things:

1. I learned that maids are not aloud to go to the beach. Crazy right? Neither are Syrians I guess. Why? I don't really know. Racism?
2. There is no absentee voting. Because most of the Lebanese living outside of Lebanon are Christian, so it would upset the delicate sectarian balance the country has after the civil war.
3. Along with Brazilian flags there are German flags, everywhere. Again, I don't know why. World Cup?

Alright, that's it for now.

Jake.

The First Few Days.

Well, after a five hour bus ride, an eight and a half hour flight to Milan, a four hour flight to Beirut and a half hour cab ride to Zouk Mosbeh, I was finally at my destination. I arrived on Wednesday at around 6 o'clock in the evening. On the way I saw some cool stuff I need to check out later. Including tons of Brazilian flags, but more on that later. I got to my room and it is pretty swank. I have a double bed (or a full, I don't know, but it's bigger than a dorm bed), my own bathroom, a balcony, a flatscreen TV with cable (including several English channels), a fridge and internet. There is also a shared kitchen, in which I have yet to cook. My internship is literally down a flight of stairs from my room so I went down and knocked on the door expecting everyone to be gone. Luckily, the director was still in and she showed me where I could find some food and get some money. Which was good, because a body can only eat so many granola bars. It also turned out it didn't really matter whether I could get Lebanese currency because apparently they take dollars everywhere. Taxis, restaurants, everywhere. The director said they had "dollarized" their economy.
Thursday I slept till 11:00, then went down to talk to the people at my internship. One of the guys who works there gave me a tour of the small museum that the organization runs. The organization is called the "Lebanese Emigration Research Center" for anyone who doesn't know/forgot what I told them. (The guy, incidentally, whose name is Elie, looks like the actor who played Odo on DS9, so that put me at ease). The museum is cool. It is artifacts that they have collected from Lebanese emigrants. Old documents, pictures, passports things like that. Actually Elie is Lebanese but he was born in Nigeria, so he is a "white Nigerian" and does not have Lebanese citizenship. Weird right? He is actually third generation Nigerian, his great grandfather emigrated there. After the museum another guy, also named Elie I think, a young guy, showed me around the campus. It is nice. The university is called Notre Dame University or NDU, I don't know whether it is affiliated with the American one. It is a catholic university and the only one in the region. It's actually kind of strange because everyone is Christian. And you think, well I'm in the Middle East, where are all the Muslims? It is a Christian area of Lebanon, which, because of its history, has areas which are Christian or Druze or Sunni or Shiite. For the rest of the day I just kind of hung out and watched bad movies on Dubai One.

Today, I started my internship. I wore khakis and a button down shirt and I think I was over dressed. Everyone seems to wear jeans. Well, I will be the best dressed in the office because I brought a lot of dress clothes, so I have to make use of them. I will be/am working on the center's new Iraqi refugee program which is perfect because that is what I wrote my grant for. Today I was just doing some literature review, which is basically reading academic and news articles and finding the relevant information and recording it. So, not the most interesting thing in a way, but also interesting in another. Then for lunch they took me and another guy, who was leaving for a few months, out. Which was very nice. They said, "Do you like Chinese?" And I'm American, so of course I do. By the by, everyone speaks English, which is also really strange. So, we went to eat and got a ton of food and they gave me all of the left overs. Ha. They must have sensed it. I met a lot of the staff at lunch and got to ask a little about Lebanon. To put all fears to rest, I asked point blank: Is there anywhere I should not go?" Everyone said no. It is safe everywhere now. Security has improved and no one will bother you. I even asked if I could go to the Shiite area of Beirut, which is the area where Hezbollah operates. They said it was fine. Just don't take pictures. But that I should not be worried and that again, no one will bother me. Also that everyone will be very helpful. So, there it is. And these are Christian Lebanese. So, you know. It was funny though because they were talking about Lebanon in the car ride back and Odo said, you go north and it's mountains, and you go south and you're in Iran. Because the south is the Shiite area. It was funny to me, anyways.
So, now I've just been hanging out and that brings me to now. This is my first ever blog so, you're welcome Zibby. Just a few more interesting observations:
1. I had Pepsi at lunch, dad. It tastes totally different. I think because it has real sugar, and not corn syrup.
2. Back to the Brazilian flags. I think that maybe there are so many because either a. the World Cup is starting and people like that team or b. the largest community of Lebanese outside of Lebanon is in Brazil, which I didn't know. I guess there are more Lebanese in Brazil than in Lebanon itself.
3. Most of the billboards are in English, and you can certainly tell it's a mixed religious country. I have seen no women with covered heads so far and the billboards have words like sex on them.
4. Finally, yesterday I heard what I could swear was gunshots. But I just chalked it up to construction or something. Then today all morning. Pop, pop, pop. More gunshots. And I thought, huh? Is there a clash going on between the political factions? Why isn't anyone concerned about these gunshots? So I finally asked and I was told that yes, it was gun fire. However, it was people hunting birds, illegally.
So, there you have it. I will post another post soon, inshallah.

PS. People say yallah (go with God) all the time. Which is awesome.

Alright, thanks for reading.

Jake.