Hi all. It’s been a few days since I blogged anything so this might be a little long. I just want to talk a little bit about the people we have spoken to and some of the things that I have picked up about Lebanon this far.
During the first day of the trip we took a tour of downtown Beirut. At first glance, the city is beautiful. All of the buildings are made in a similar French style using local stone. Everything looks so composed and sophisticated. There are restaurants lining the streets – people smoking hookah and having a drink to cool off under the oppressing hot sun. However, it has not been like this for long. From 1975 to 1990, the Lebanese people found themselves in a brutal civil war as clashes between Christian and Muslin reached uncontrollable levels. It was a period of bloodshed and misery. Today, you stand here and ask yourself how they managed to progress so quickly. The city looks so modern and put together.
However, the signs are all still there. Take a closer look at any building and you will see patched on the exterior. These are patches of cement intended to fill in the bullet holes created during the war. In between every other new construction you will find a dilapidated building that has seen the effects of war. It can be very draining.
With that said, as an insider looking in, it seems as if they have made so much progress in so little time. As someone who never saw the old Beirut, I am impressed with the way that it is now. Our escort for the Lebanon Renaissance Foundation, Melcar, has been taking us around each day. The first night after the tour I told him that I was very impressed with the city. He looked at me and said, “Yes, its nice. But it is not Beirut. It is not my Beirut-the one that we all love.” This kind of caught me off guard. Although I can understand his sentiments, I am getting an increasing impression that people here seem disappointed by where they live. They do not like this changed city. It also seems to me that they are unwilling to let go of this past. It’s becoming ever more evident that they are embedded in this past – something that I believe will be a hindrance in their progress if it is left unresolved.
On day 2, we took a trip to northern Lebanon to visit the Gibran Museum, the Cedars, and the Baalbek ruins. The Gibran Museum is dedicated to a Lebanese writer, poet, and artist, Khalil Gibran. It was interesting to see some of his work and I ended up buying one of his books. The cedars were also very interesting. The area that we went to is one to some of the last remaining cedar trees in Lebanon. The cedar is the national symbol for the country. We also visited the Baalbek ruins- an area with ancient Roman ruins and towering pillars. I found it very interesting that they were so well preserved.
One thing that surprised me was the fact that stores and people on the street were selling Hezbollah shirts. Since Hezbollah is so active in the north, it was apparent that the people here were really supportive of an organization that the United States deems the most powerful non-state actor in the world.
Over the next two days we met with several speakers from journalists to economists to former Ministers and those who deal with microfinance. It has been really insightful to listen to those in the country who believe in democracy and are against the Assad government in Syria. That has been a hot topic of discussion in all of these interviews. One thing that I found interesting and frightening is the fact that there is no unified history book in Lebanon. What the youth are taught in school depends on the region they live in and the religious community they are a part of (Sunni, Shi’a, Druze, Maronite Christian, Greek Orthodox, etc.). This is concerning because of the mere fact that such tense and profound divides exist in the society.
Today we spoke to a couple of other individuals and visited the campus of the American University of Beirut – the best American university outside the United States. The campus was amazing and it seemed that the students were bright and engaged. I think I will be looking into a possible semester at the school. Many of the graduates go on to holding high political positions from Presidents to prime ministers and MPs.
Although I wish I had time to write more, I am now about to go to dinner. Take care!
peace begins with a smile 