Sun 26 Feb 2006
These are photos from Friday, when Katy and I walked the Corniche and then went up on the balloon. It was my 3rd time up, but they recently moved it several blocks away, so I was able to have a different view, mainly of downtown. The third picture shows Solidere and the still razed Martyr’s Square. The weather was glorious, as it had been since we returned from Greece. Ethan and I have decided that if we are going to go skiing, we absolutely must go next weekend.
Yesterday, we were sort of amazed by the interesting warm fog that descended on the city, but I just read that it is actually the beginning of the khamseen winds. These are duststorm winds from Egypt and Libya, and luckily they are not supposed to linger for too long here in Lebanon (khamseen means 50 in Arabic, and the winds last for about 50 days every year in North Africa).
Last night we had our friend, Bjorn, over for dinner and we were able to eat out on the terrace- finally. Afterward, we went to our local and had a few Almazas. Our bartender friend discussed the political situation with us for some time. He thinks that civil war is almost impossible, partly because he says no one has tanks or stockpiled weapons. Of course, there is Hezbollah, the PFLP, and the Lebanese Army (who are all armed), plus Syria and Iran would have no difficulty introducing more weapons. He believes that the situation now is very different from the one in 1975, the year the civil war began.
And it does seem impossible that war could start again here. Everyone is against it, the protests and rallies are peaceful, and people go about their daily business– shopping, strolling on the corniche, taking kids to the park, sipping coffee in cafes and on balconies, chatting with neighbors.