birds and storm

Another big storm rolled in just before evening. Lots of really loud thunder, jarring lightning, and rain, of course. The power stayed on but the internet was out for several hours. Does everyone know how happy Ethan is going to be when we get DSL (or whatever) in TX?

Today I had lunch with a friend who works at AUB (American University of Beirut). We ate in the student cafeteria, which reminded me a lot of the cafeteria at Random House. They even had that wretched Ritazza coffee. I had some lovely lentil soup and a nice chat with Caroline.

Afterward, I walked around the campus for a little while and marveled (again) at what a nice campus it is. I can’t think of a nicer one. There is so much green, and the campus itself is perched an a hill overlooking the sea. It really is like an oasis in the midst of all of the concrete. Most of the buildings are light stone with red roofs. I realized, once again, that college students are really, really young. As if all of the screeching and shenanigans of the ones who live on our street weren’t proof enough.

In other news, my father found out he has been selected to participate in one of the Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad this summer. He is going to be spending 6 weeks in Jordan. I’m so proud. The only bummer is that we won’t be here anymore, so he can’t come visit us.

Ethan and I just bought tickets to go to Oman. We leave April 21 and return to Beirut on the 30th. I’m pretty excited, but I’m having a hard time finding any sort of budget or mid-range accommodation. It turns out that Oman is really expensive. I also cannot seem to locate a guidebook. I have been to about 15 bookstores trying to find the Lonely Planet Arabian Peninsula. No luck, and now it is too late for me to order it, presuming I can find a store that actually will. Virgin said that they would, but the useless guy who was helping me couldn’t figure out how to use the computer to find the book I was looking for, so I blew it off that day. Sheesh- sorry for all of the complaining- I’m going to Oman!