Lebanese Diaries (Final Week)

May 26th, 2009

As we heard the Muslims begin their chants for their daily prayer, we began a discussion over the variety of religions within the country. Lebanon is split between 18 different religions including Christianity, Islam and Druze. The city tends to segregate itself based on Religion and certain towns around Beirut are noticeably grouped. One of the ways they are able to do this is by price discrimination. Charging more for a house for those who believe in other religions and cheaper deals if you believe in the same religion. Some towns have a mix of religions but usually Druze and Muslims are never mixed together. The country also shares three different types of languages, English, Arabic and French and it is common for people to speak all three languages. As a matter of fact, the Lebanese language is a mixture of all these languages and the people tend to use all three languages within one sentence.

Later that night I got to see pictures of the stories that I had heard since I was a little kid. These were the pictures of my dad holding assault rifles and bazookas when he was only 17 years old. When I was 17, I was holding drumsticks! It was almost like holding a gun was in fashion because everyone was doing it. I tried to pry him open to get more information about the pictures but I didn’t have much success.

May 27th, 2009

My Dad, Mucrum, Dylan and I woke up early to travel 20 kilometers to the Jeita Grotto caves, a strong candidate for the new 7 wonders of the world. We took a gondola up to the top cave and walked inside a long tunnel before we made our bat transformation. The security forced us to stow away our cameras to keep tourists from taking pictures but I took the risk and brought my blackberry so I could somewhat share the sights with you :) There were two separate levels of caves. The first level had a long bridged pathway to walk on. Over thousands of years, the water would slowly seep through the rock, collect calcium and form icicle looking rocks. The deep caves were lit with multicolored lights and were accompanied with a symphony of water drops. Of course I was thinking music festival!! We then went to the bottom level, boarded a jon boat and cruised the 30 degree water through the most peaceful and sacred ten minutes I’ve ever had. These caves wowed us bend belief.

We headed back to Beruit so Mucrum could meet with his attorney to finalize a deal with a condo that he had just purchased for the family. While we were waiting, I ran across the street to take a picture of these massive rocks poking out of the ocean.

We then went home and prepared for Rafah’s family dinner invitation. They took us to this classy, french styled restaurant on a roof in the middle of Ashrafrieh. Even though Adham wasn’t there, it was a successful gathering for the parents to bond and converse about a possibility of a future marriage. Adla, Adhams mom, started pouring her heart out about how it is fate and destiny. Her words were pure, passionate and sincere. This dinner was nice because I was able absorb everything that I had done in Lebanon and recollect my thoughts and feelings. Ana Mapsoot tier! (I was very happy!)

Rafah, Dylan and I then went to a bar called Proof that was pumping some Ricky Martin and we all had a heart to heart. We talked about life, her lebanese experiences and her feelings on the constant fightings in Lebanon. She further explained to me that Hesbollah, a south lebanese military group funded by Iran has been the reason for the wars. Since they are on the border of Lebanon, they have been invaded several times and over the years they became more powerful than the Lebanese government. They started their group to protect themselves and they claim to also protect Lebanon,however, they seem to be the instigators. Many Lebanese people don’t like the group but certain muslims support their efforts and allowed them to continue their doings. Rafah feels that Lebanon would be a much happier and peaceful place without them and I think she speaks on behalf of the majority of the Lebanese people. She was telling us how in 2006, during the war, her and her friends would have to wait for the bomb to go off before they could go out because once it exploded, there would be a grace period before the next bomb explosion. If it didn’t go off, they would have to stay inside all night. She recommended reading a book called Pity the Nation by Robert Frisk so I could get a better understanding of the Lebanese wars. Rafah is very smart, kind, beautiful and she has a great heart. I’m glad my cousin met her and I hope it all works out. ;)

May 28th, 2009

Back to Ghariffi to say our goodbyes to the extended family. Dylan and I played “racket” with the village kids while my dad delivered presents. Next, we attended the Saad Club meeting in Betatine. Every month, each Saad family contributes money to a box that is kept for emergencies. For example, if there is a hospital bill that a family member cannot afford, they have this safety net. Kinda like insurance! After the meeting, we let loose, played some music and learned how to dance Lebanese style. Dylan and I ended the party with another drum jam this time using a 10 gallon water jug, some pots and a dirbeki. We can’t speak Arabic but we definitely communicated to the family through our rhythms.

May 29th, 2009

We rushed back to Beirut so I could meet up a Manal, the executive producer of imagic, an affiliated production company with the Lebanese Broadcasting Company. Manal is a friend of Rafah’s sister and I had met her at the family party last Friday. I’ve always heard that Beruit was the L.A. of the middle east so I wanted to see it for myself. Her office is in Ashafrei close to Gemazeh and today she was working on picking. a game show from France for imagic to replicate for the middle east. Her job as the producer is to oversee the entire vision of each project and to make sure all the other departments are accomplishing their jobs in order to bring everything together. The most interesting thing about her job is having to make sure that every TV show is appropriate for each different cultural audience. For example, the station purchased a TV show from France about the making of sports video games. In one of the shots, there was a small cup of whine and a beer bottle. Because this show would be broadcasted to countries that are Islam dominant, she had to tell the editors to loose the shot.

Manal suggested for my last night in Lebanon to go to BA18-one of the top five underground techno venues in the world. She told me the place was created by a musical genius who transformed this building where massacres use to take place into an underground night club. So I went back to pack my bags, eat dinner and freshin up.

We ended up not going out because our plane was leaving for Dubai at 7 AM so we opened a couple local beers and enjoyed our last night in Lebanon.

Overall, the trip was a success and I have a feeling we will be back soon. After being in war for over 23 years, Lebanon has made a strong recovery and I trully hope they continue the peace and progress.


Christopher Chafic Saad :)