Happy three-month anniversary Lebanon! I wrote you a poem list.

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:

Ashoura

On Monday, late at night, as most of my stories seem to unfold, I received one of these spontaneous propositions for an adventure that pop up every now and again since I have come to Lebanon:

"Come with us to the South to see the Ashoura celebrations in Nabatiye tomorrow morning!"

What's a girl to do? I went home... packed a toothbrush, my glasses and laptop (because I am a very responsible grad student--Papa, Maman si vous lisez ceci) and hopped into my friend Kh.'s car for another Janub trip.

Quick Wiki moment:
Ashoura is one of the Shi'a Muslim high holidays. It is in remembrance of the death of Husayn, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad, on the tenth day of the battle of Karbala in 680 CE (or 60 After Hijra, during the month of Muharram), which opposed Husayn's handful of followers against the army of Caliph Yazid.

Child dressed in black for Ashoura, carrying a flag with a
portrait of Husayn

Ashoura is a day of mourning for Shi'as, and many typically honor this day by wearing black. However, some Shi'as perform tatbir, a practice involving hitting oneself on the head repeatedly with the flat side of a sword's blade, drawing blood, or hitting one's back with chains. This act of grief is forbidden in many countries, and has been called haram by some Shi'a scholars, but the practice is still legal in Lebanon.

(Warning: Pictures involving large amounts of blood below the fold.)

"Wait your turn"

A story that has made the rounds on this side of the Internet has been that of Aliaa el-Mahdy, a 20-year-old Egyptian activist, who posted nude pictures of herself on her blog with the stated goal of exercizing her freedom of speech and denouncing "a society of violence, racism, sexism, sexual harassment and hypocrisy."

The backlash has been intense, with her blog garnering several million page views, and a vast number of insults and death threats. Conservatives have glommed onto her as a sign that the secular movement in Egypt has no moral values and will corrupt Egyptian society. In turn, Egyptian liberals have distanced themselves from her, and many ask whether she has hurt the cause.

That social and religious conservatives attack el-Mahdy does not surprise me. That misogynists hurl degrading insults at her does not surprise me. But I was surprised not too long ago to hear a friend of mine vitriolically criticize her, striking a low blow with one sentence:

"Now is not the time for feminist demands, they need to wait their turn."