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New Plan

Blog: Half - 15 July 2009

By: Colette


I have a plan for the next 2 months! Can you believe it?? Me! who never has a plan for more than a couple weeks in advance! I’m still recovering from the shock…

So I found out about a week ago that George is staying in the States until the end of August. And I’m LOVING Beirut, my Arabic classes are going well and I’m making friends. So…I’ve decided to stay here for 2 months instead of the originally scheduled one. Huzzah!

Only hiccup being that Stephen is leaving at the end of the month, also to go back to the states. So there goes my free lodging…And so, I began looking for an apartment.

Apartment hunting in Beirut in the summer is…interesting. There are a couple of websites I found that have apartment listings, but most are looking for long-term tenants, not summer vacationers. And there are almost no hostels. The one that I did find, in Gemmaze (neighborhood near Martyr Square), was pretty run down.

A map of Beirut with the different neighborhoods and the beaches labeled - Gemmaze is just off the map to the right. There are better maps I'm sure, but this is one of the only ones I could find online just now with the areas clearly labeled.

A map of Beirut with the different neighborhoods and the beaches labeled - Gemmaze is just off the map to the right. There are better maps I'm sure, but this is one of the only ones I could find online just now with the areas clearly labeled.

So…I kept looking. Turns out there’s a Craig’s List Beirut – who knew?? Well, not many people, because there’s almost nothing posted, but I did manage to turn up one post for an apartment in Hamra, near AUB (the American University of Beirut), which is actually close to where I’m living now. A few phone calls later, and I set up an appointment to visit the place.

It’s fantastic – a kind of Auberge Libanese. There are 5 people living there now, and with me, it’ll be 6. They’re all students and they rent out 2 of the rooms in the summer to travelers. Some Lebanese American guys, a Turkish girl and I think the other girl is Lebanese. Anyway, it seems perfect so I rented the room! Yay! No more hunting!! A huge relief, because walking from neighborhood to neighborhood in hot, humid Beirut, is a great way to get to know the city, yes, but it’s exhausting and I melt in the heat. At 3pm, the city feels empty – turns out that’s because I’m the only one stupid enough to walk around at 3pm in full sun…oops. My bad.

Anyway, I’m psyched about the apartment!! I move in on July 27th and I’ll stay until August 24th. Then it’s back to Amman or Ramallah, or wherever this new job takes me!

Tags: Amman , Apartment Hunting , Arabic , Beirut , Culture , Family , friends , fun , History , Humor , L'Auberge Espagnol , Lebanon , Middle East , Ramallah , summer , travel , weather , Work , youth hostels

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