It's hard to believe it's been three months since I first set foot in Lebanon. In some ways, it feels like I have been here forever, but I still have so much to learn. I've passed the point of being submerged in the unfamiliar, and some of my initial impressions now seem laughably inaccurate.
So now, instead of listing things that seem out of the ordinary, here is a list of things that might have seemed odd three months ago, but to which I am now accustomed:
- Knowing Beirut does, in fact, have crosswalks and traffic lights. Ignoring them anyway.
- Not drinking tap water, ever.
- Throwing toilet paper in the trash can, not the toilet.
- Haggling for a service.
- Seat belts being a luxury item.
- Spontaneous trips being the norm.
- Taking 15 minutes to load a two minute Youtube video.
- Never going on a Flash Web site ever again.
- Daily electricity outages.
- Doing laundry twice as often as I used to because regardless of where I go and what I do, all of my belongings end up reeking of cigarettes.
- Eating carrot sticks in bars.
- Getting stuck in traffic for an hour and a half when Google Maps told me my destination was only 26 minutes away.
- Spending more time on the phone giving directions to an (un-addressed) appartment to the delivery guy than it took to order the food.
- Apocalyptic downpours in 20°C weather.
- Being surrounded by faces of politicians plastered on walls everywhere. Lacking any name or identification, said faces doomed to remain anonymous.
- Everything being more nuanced than it might appear at first sight.
Things I am still mystified by:
- Why many drive like they just escaped from an insane asylum and are being chased by cops.
- Why straws are called "chalumeau," the French word for "blowtorch."
- How Lebanon has managed to install a Large Hadron Collider in my wallet to suck away all my money at the speed of light. I'm going to assume this is actually how the Special Tribunal for Lebanon was funded.
From the looks of this post, it might not look like it, but Lebanon, I think you and I have something special going on. I find your quirks charming, your complications fascinating, and I'm madly in love with your imperfections. I don't want to jinx our budding relationship, but I can see us being together for a little while.
xoxo
So now, instead of listing things that seem out of the ordinary, here is a list of things that might have seemed odd three months ago, but to which I am now accustomed:
- Knowing Beirut does, in fact, have crosswalks and traffic lights. Ignoring them anyway.
- Not drinking tap water, ever.
- Throwing toilet paper in the trash can, not the toilet.
- Haggling for a service.
- Seat belts being a luxury item.
- Spontaneous trips being the norm.
- Taking 15 minutes to load a two minute Youtube video.
- Never going on a Flash Web site ever again.
- Daily electricity outages.
- Doing laundry twice as often as I used to because regardless of where I go and what I do, all of my belongings end up reeking of cigarettes.
- Eating carrot sticks in bars.
- Getting stuck in traffic for an hour and a half when Google Maps told me my destination was only 26 minutes away.
- Spending more time on the phone giving directions to an (un-addressed) appartment to the delivery guy than it took to order the food.
- Apocalyptic downpours in 20°C weather.
- Being surrounded by faces of politicians plastered on walls everywhere. Lacking any name or identification, said faces doomed to remain anonymous.
- Everything being more nuanced than it might appear at first sight.
Things I am still mystified by:
- Why many drive like they just escaped from an insane asylum and are being chased by cops.
- Why straws are called "chalumeau," the French word for "blowtorch."
- How Lebanon has managed to install a Large Hadron Collider in my wallet to suck away all my money at the speed of light. I'm going to assume this is actually how the Special Tribunal for Lebanon was funded.
From the looks of this post, it might not look like it, but Lebanon, I think you and I have something special going on. I find your quirks charming, your complications fascinating, and I'm madly in love with your imperfections. I don't want to jinx our budding relationship, but I can see us being together for a little while.
xoxo
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