Amy’s Journal

Two days until the UN report on the Hariri investigation is handed to Kofi Annan. We are hearing rumors of warnings about going out at night this week and about a possible curfew on Friday, but so far the government seems to be saying that it will be business as usual. No chance of guidance from our embassy. We are on the Warden’s list, but they don’t tend to send us anything. According to the embassy website, the last Warden’s message was sent out in February, right after Hariri was killed, but I have heard from people on the list that they never received such an email.

Anyhow, people seem to be gearing up for Friday, but it seems unlikely that we will hear any details about the report then- the UN Security Council won’t review it until next week.

UPDATE: Some news sources are now saying that Annan will get the report Thursday (now today) and that the Security Council and Lebanese government will have it Friday.

It is a steady drizzle, and I can actually hear it.

UPDATE: The drizzle turned into a downpour, and for all of my talk about how I was going to relish such a thing whenever it happened, I found it annoying and foreign as we were trudging around in it last night. We also learned that rain here is highly correlated with no electricity. The temperature has dropped and the forecast is for highs around 75F all week.

The New York Times Travel section just ran a glowing story about Belgrade called “Belgrade Rocks“. Belgrade was one of 3 other cities we considered moving besides Beirut, and I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn’t been. After you come see us in Lebanon, of course.

And in the same travel section, there is an article on vineyards in Lebanon. The wine is fantastic here- I have even started drinking white wine.

UPDATE: It was just pointed out to me that the guy who wrote the article about Lebanese wines is someone who we actually “know”, an American who is well known around town for his love of rosé.

Yesterday, Ethan, Carrie and I spent the afternoon at the beach. We decided to really go for it, since we don’t have that many real beach days left, so we went to Edde Sands, near Byblos/Jbeil. It’s basically a resort, with several restaurants, swimming pools, cabanas, etc. We had some foolish idea that since it is mid-October, there might be some sort of discount to get in, but no, we still had to pay $12, the weekend-in-summer price. The day was intermittently cloudy, but Ethan and I swam in the sea anyhow.

All in all, it was very relaxing, as there were few people there (and this place supposedly stays open 365 days a year-I have no idea who pays $12 to sit on the beach in the middle of the rainy season). We all took naps after having stayed out late at a dance club called Basement which Ethan actually likes. Yes, Ethan likes a dance club.

Then we went to a mexican food restaurant for dinner that Carrie likes called El Molino .. it turned out to be better than I had ever expected to find in Lebanon. Now all we need is Thai, Texas BBQ, and Vietnamese.

The other day, I was somewhat surprised by my students. I had asked them to write a journal entry about their favorite political leader. I was puzzled that about half of them chose Hassan Nasrallah, who is the leader of Hezbollah (an organization which generally represents Lebanese Shi’a, not Sunni Palestinians-or so I had assumed). The second choice was Yasser Arafat (which I had expected) and the remaining choices were Che Guevara, Fidel Castro, and Saad Hariri. No mention of any living Palestinian leaders, unsurprisingly.

The other night, Ethan and I watched Jenin, Jenin, a documentary film about the 2002 destruction of the West Bank camp by Israel. For me, it illustrated some differences between being occupied (Palestinians in the West Bank) and exiled (Palestinians here in Lebanon– or Jordan, Syria, and the rest of the world). This is something I also talked about with a fellow volunteer this summer, who had worked with refugees in the West Bank and also here- she claimed that in the West Bank there is much more focus on reclaiming their land- and it makes sense, because they can see what they are fighting for. When I ask my students where they would prefer to live, most of them don’t say Palestine. Most of them tell me a specific Western country (usually one where a family member of theirs has managed to move). At this point, many (most?) Palestinians don’t believe they are going “back”.

I have discovered one of the perks of having students who are taking a hairdressing course at the vocational center- free haircuts. I got a trim (from the instructor) and then the girls took turns blow-drying my hair. I am firmly resisting all attempts to put color in my hair (it would undoubtedly be bad blond highlights), though I did let 2 of them pluck my eyebrows.

So now the former head of security in Syria has killed himself after all. It is assumed this is because he knew that he would be implicated in the UN report on Hariri’s assasination, which should be released next week.

A lot hinges on this report. Certainly, it will place blame on the Lebanese security officers who were arrested in August. Definitely, it will “reveal” that Syria was somehow involved. It is only a question of how high the accusations will go. There is speculation that President Assad will not be accused, whether Mehlis and his team think he is guilty or not. Some think that a deal will be cut with the US– Assad’s regime will cooperate with the US on Iraq, in exchange for looking the other way regarding Syria’s probable guilt in the murder of Rafiq Hariri. It is unclear how much Assad can get away with regarding consorting with the US, though, if he decides to do so. There are some who say that both Assad (President of Syria) and Lahoud (President of Lebanon) are on their way out.

Suffice it to say, this city should be crawling with foreign journalists this time next week.

This is the actual police sketch of a suspect wanted for questioning in connection with the attempt on May Chidiac’s life. I’m pretty sure that scores of people will come forward with information upon seeing this very distinct image.

Before English class today, I went into the room where many of my students take a hairdressing class. It was interesting, because about half of these girls/women (they range from 16-34 years old) are usually covered when in the presence of men, but in this room, they had shed outer shirts and were waltzing around the room in tank tops and tight jeans with their long hair flowing. Most of them had blond streaks in their hair, too. It was fun and they were all pretty excited to show me their hair, in part because they had just had it styled in the class.

Later, Ethan and I went to some jewelry stores in our neighborhood to look for wedding bands. It was really wild, because in every store, when asked the price of the ring, the guy would shrug and drop it on a scale. You pay based on weight. As most people know, the price of gold is international, you just pay extra for workmanship. All I know is that in the States, those jewelers are paid an awful lot for their craft, because rings here are so much cheaper than I ever would have imagined.

Tomorrow morning we are off to Damascus to spend about 24 hours with Ethan’s parents.

It’s beginning to feel like Fall, a little. It’s been about 80F and slightly less humid. You can walk down the street without sweating. We sleep with a light blanket at night. The AUB students are back and noisy. Bananas and grapes have replaced plums and pistachioes in the markets.

Also, Ramadan started yesterday. Observant Muslims are fasting during daylight hours and celebrating with feasts in the evening. Last night, our landlord’s daughter brought us a plate of one of the many Ramadan sweets, cream-filled and flavored with pistachio. In the more traditional areas, near Bourj al-Barajneh, there are colorful streamers and moon shapes stretched high above the streets. Last night, as I sat on the terrace just past sunset, I could hear families in the apartments around, who had gathered to break the fast (iftar).