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.
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.
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