sea view

So we have been here in Beirut for not quite a week. I’m mostly adjusted to the time change. It was nice to arrive and have things be somewhat familiar. Beirut really isn’t that big, so we remembered a lot from when we were here a few years ago.

Our temporary apartment is okay.. the main thing it has going for it are the 2 balconies-or the view from them, really. We are in Ain Mreisseh, very near the American University of Beirut (AUB). The apartment is a few blocks back from the Mediterranean Sea, but we are on a hill and there are no buildings right in front of us, so we have a clear view to the Corniche and the sea. It’s also nice and breezy, and even though there have already been some hot days, it always stays cool inside our apartment with the glass doors wide open. The rest of the apartment is not nearly so great. It’s a bit like a mid-range Eastern European hotel, with slightly soiled carpet, functional but generic furnishings, grotty bathroom. There is no oven, only what is essentially a camping stove. It also smells slightly badly without the balcony door open.

Anyhow, we are looking for a new place. There are tons of furnished apartments, but all of the ones that we have seen are either far less pleasant than this one, or else they are very expensive. They are also pretty much hotels, which is not really what we are after. It’s nice that we don’t have to pay electric bills or take out the trash, but it’s not at all set up for visitors. We saw a really nice place that we are considering. It’s got a wrap around balcony (we are kind of into the balcony thing) and is completely renovated and huge (3 bedrooms), but it is totally unfurnished, which would be a huge expense, even if we decided not to buy much. It’s also in Achrafiyeh, in more of a neighborhood, which has huge pluses, but it’s quite a bit inland.

On Sunday, we went wandering and stopped in Place de Etoile to watch all of the kids riding around on their bikes and trikes. There are few places to ride bicycles in Beirut because the traffic is so insane. More on that later, I am certain. Then we walked along the Corniche and familes were out in full force, having picnics, chatting, smoking nargileh pipes. Quite a scene, really.

I have been looking for differences in Beirut since we were here for a few weeks in late 2002. There are “Independence 2005” signs and Rafik Hariri posters are everywhere. At least in central neighborhoods, there are fewer Hizbollah signs, and seemingly no posters of President Lahoud. In 2002, there were posters of Lahoud all over, as in countries with dictators, like Syria. Shops and businesses nearly all seem to display posters of the assassinated Hariri and of his son, Saad, who is running for office. They are often pictured together, sometimes with the father pictured in the background, a bit faded out, like a ghost.