Lebanon: An Introduction

// December 10th, 2009 // lebanon

I am living in Lebanon. Many of my friends hear the word of this country, but little do they know what a unique and surprising country it is. This is part of the reason I feel compelled to include my experiences here in the blog, as I’ve been to a fair few countries, but none of them are as intriguing to me as this one. I’m here as an ex-pat basically, and while I’m aggressively trying to learn French and Arabic (it’s a dual language country, being an ex-French colony), I’m still very much an outsider.

It’s flag is the cedar tree, created in the 1940s when Lebanon gained independence from France. It’s got a population consisting of both Muslims and Christians, who live in surprising harmony. I was present during the 2006 Lebanon-Israeli war, and learnt quickly that the dealings that Lebanon has had with neighbouring countries in the past can unite people of very different influences.

Politics is a hot topic here, and people talk with a lot of passion, and identify very strongly with their opinion. When you see two people who are talking in Arabic about something political, it can be pretty jarring. But no, it’s just the passion in their voice. It’s quite a contrast, I feel, to my way of discussing things, but it’s inherent to the people, the culture. I’m getting used to it quickly.
I live at a place called La Marina, which is predictably, a marina. It’s close enough to the city centre of Beirut to the south, but because it’s in the middle of a few empty blocks of land, you get a sense of isolation as well. I have my apartment, and across the entrance is a club with various facilities and a bar. So it’s pretty good living, and with the internet, very comfortable for a Westerner to settle in.

Here’s me on the map (Zoom out to get a sense of the country and region, it’s quite interesting):

I think that’ll do for an introduction, I’ll start putting up some videos and photos soon! Stay tuned!

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