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Beirut, how I love thee. Let me count the ways…

Blog: Half - 9 September 2009

By: Colette

Cagil!

About a week ago, my flatmate Cagil (pronounced ‘Chill’) and I were sitting out on her balcony, drinking wine, smoking cigarettes and listening to Fairuz belt out ‘Le Beirut.’ Complete bliss. As we sat there in our white plastic chairs, our feet propped up on the rusty steel railing, red wine dribbling down our chins (well, my chin – Cagil doesn’t have the same problems I do with spills and messes) we tried to figure out what it is that makes this disorganized city, so full of contradictions, so special – why do we love it so much? And although we couldn’t quite pinpoint one specific thing, we did manage to cover a whole spew of things that are uniquely and wonderfully ‘Beirut.’

• Constant power outages that leave you peeing in the dark, locked in café with electric doors, sweltering without air conditioning, and cursing your dead computer battery
• Completely veiled women with bright purple platform heels peeking out beneath their burquas.
• Cold (aka luke warm) showers on a sticky summer afternoon
• Grilled ham, cheese and tomato sandwiches from Dany’s
• Meeting at least one new person every day
• Joking about my former unibrow and mustache with people who can honestly relate (we Lebanese are a rather hairy people)
  

  My natural eyebrows

• Amazing people from all over Lebanon and the world who are willing to open up completely; who become your best friend, your soul mate in only a few days time
• Stores that appear and disappear in a month’s time
  

  M'juddera

• Popping olives like candy while we dance around the kitchen, Louis Armstrong playing from my laptop, cooking m’juddera (lentils and rice – by the way – LOVE that its called mmmmm judera cause it really is muah-ha mmmmm boy delicious) with friends
• The world’s S   L   O   W   E   S   T and most expensive internet connection
• Walking south, while taxis driving north honk at you and offer you a ride
• Six people jammed in the back of a Service (shared taxi)
• Eating three meals a day at BarBar
• The hilarious but inevitable realization that after eating three meals a day at BarBar, even your sweat has begun to smell like garlic
• Seemingly sweat-free Lebanese women with perfect nails, hair, skin and clothes, strutting down Hamra
• Spending long afternoons at Ants, browsing jewelry and dresses or just chilling and drinking tea with Fahan, Sebouh, Karen, Raghda and Noor
• Countless marriage proposals from taxi drivers
• Iced coffee at Café Younes with a constantly growing group of friends
• Singing along while friends play guitar and drink cocktails on your roof
  

  May and Leila enjoying fruit cocktails for breakfast

• Fruit cocktails (an assortment of sliced fresh fruit topped with a sugary syrup, sweet white cheese, pistachio nuts, almonds and a slice of avocado – AH! Too good!)
• Friday night concerts by ‘Chahadine Ya Baladna’ at Walimat
• Techno dance parties in the back of taxi cabs…complete with flashing lights…at 3pm
• Silent old movies screened with subtitles on the walls of De Prague
• An unhealthy obsession with Knafe
  

  Knafe!!

• Old men, sitting outside cafes in white plastic chairs playing backgammon or smoking
• Communal water bottles on mini buses
• Sitting on my orange sheets with friends in my room, drinking wine, eating chocolate, talking and cracking each other up until the wee hours of the morning
  

  Me, wrapped in my orange sheets, and so happy!

• That newfound, deep and unconditional love we have all developed for air conditioners
• That renewed, deep and unconditional hatred we have all developed for mosquitoes
• The first fresh figs at the end of August

My infamous fig binges have earned me the nickname 'Teeny,' which in Arabic means 'My fig'

Eating figs until your stomach starts to gurgle and you come to the terrifying realization that you can fart on cue Long, intimate evenings with Señor Hamam (Hamam = Toilet in Arabic) after binging on figs Realizing that you’ve never before talked about your bowel movements on such a regular basis

Dancing with Omar at Oceana

Sipping an ice-cold Almaza with friends at Barometre and snacking on an assortment of Lebanese dishes (mezze) Dancing all day in the pool at one of Beirut’s beach clubs Being offered tissues by random strangers, blown away by how completely drenched in sweat you’ve allowed yourself to become Ordering an obscene amount of food from Kabab-ji…and devouring every last bite Lazy days in the pool with friends that you’ve known for a few days, but feel like you’ve known for years Farah, Rianne, me and Leila floating in the pool at Sporting Sitting on the balcony with Cagil, drinking wine, discussing what makes us happy in Beirut

Tags: Almaza , Arabic , Bar , BarBar , Barometre , Beach , Beirut , Cafe Younes , Chahadine Ya Baladna , clubbing , Culture , Dany's , De Prague , Electricity , Fairuz , Figs , food , friends , Fruit cocktails , fun , Hamra , History , Humor , internet , Islam , Kababsi , knafe , L'Auberge Espagnol , Le Beirut , Lebanese Cuisine , Lebanon , Mediterranean , Middle East , Olives , Party , Pasteries , pool , Sanwiches , Studying , summer , Taxi , travel , Walimat , weather , Work

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