Beirut blues...

So this weekend I finally got out of AUB and saw some cool stuff. On of the areas was the Shalita refugee camp. The place reminds me a lot of Palestine with the open air markets, the massive poverty, and the love of a homeland lost. Seeing the camps has been one of my big objectives in Beirut and I'm hoping to organize a trip there. In case people were wondering, Shalita is an open area that is not armed so traveling there is fine but it would help to have a guide who knows the history of the camp. It was strange but the posters around the camp feature Arafat along with Rafiq and Saad Hariri. It's not too unlikely but I would have never have guessed seeing them together like that. As we drove though you could smell the argile and various fruits and vegetables that were being sold. I know I'll be back at some point.

On sunday we were able to travel to Beit Eddine thanks to Nadine. I was able to take a lot of really nice pictures that I hope to get onto facebook soon inshallah. The area was very beautiful and I'm really glad I got away from AUB. It's not that I don't like this place but I feel suffocated and I want to experience the part of Lebanon that doesn't have as much western influence.