First impressions of Lebanon:

 

On arrival at the airport, the first thing I saw as we came into the terminal was a group of about 25 African girls, in very simple clothes, sitting quietly together, waiting for their plane. I’m guessing that they have been working as migrant domestic workers. My initial impression was how quiet and subservient they seemed. No looking at phones, or scrolling, or chatting with friends. No smart clothes, or handbags. Just very simply dressed, eyes lowered, holding their hands in their laps. I wonder what sort of experience they’ve had here in Lebanon. And what sort of the situation they are returning to. How long have they been away? How many of them have young families to return to, and children who won’t recognise them as they have been raised by grandparents in the mother’s absence? How many of them had an experience roughly what they were expecting, how many had a better experience, how many had a worse experience? So many questions – how to get the answers? 

Driving through the city of Beirut, the first area was a Hezbollah stronghold, and there were several places where big piles of rubble could be seen at the side of the road - evidence of recent bombings that have taken place. As this was a Muslim majority area there were lots of mosques, big and not so big, and in this period of Eid al-Fittarh, it was an area where much celebration and feasting could be seen to be taking place. After that we drove through a Christian majority area which has churches of many flavours and sizes in it. Another thing that changes between the different religious areas is the posters of politicians. Although all are in Arabic re the writing, the religious representations of the politicians definitely changes between the areas.  

The roads themselves seem to be in a relatively good state, but there is a distinct absence of traffic lights, speed limits, or roundabouts. Apparently, there aren’t many traffic lights anyway, and those that do exist are often not working. There are some roundabouts, but the rules re right of way definitely seem to be different to the UK way of approaching them. And lanes sort of do exist, but again the lines are often missing. So, it’s all about being courteous to each other, and driving sensibly it seems. From my limited experience so far – it works!

The drive from Beirut to Zahle today was good – really lovely to see the surrounding countryside and get a sense of life outside the city. It’s pretty hilly, with some very good views. Not sure if I saw Syria, but might have done, given how close we are to the border. No big swathes of cedars of Lebanon left sadly, but instead most of the hillsides were rocky, scrubby land, that looked like it is best suited to sheep farming (and yes, I did see some sheep!).

Finally, the food – am in the home of the falafel, and za’atar, and delicious salads. Last night I had a simple takeout of falafel and pickles – very delicious. This morning I had an oatflour flatbread with za’atar, tomatoes, cucumber and olives – one version of the standard Lebanese breakfast. I had to skip the cheese due to being dairy intolerant, but what I did have was fab. Lunch was a small smorgasbord of Lebanese delights: tabbouleh (without the bulgar wheat), fatoush, babaganoush, stuffed vine leaves, spiced potatoes, pickled vegetables, and there were also a couple of meat and pastry dishes which I skipped due to being vegetarian and gluten intolerant. If my first 24 hours are anything to go by, this is going to be a week of gastronomic delights!