Sick on a busy day.

So I ate some chicken last night which has made me a little sick and I had to skip class. This is a strange day to be sick considering there is a lot of celebration in Beirut over the prisoner swap with Israel. Everywhere gun fire can be heard in Beirut as people are celebrating. In the meantime I'm worried about being sick since it will hinder my ability to learn Arabic. Everything seemed fine over the weekend as we went to byblos which was really beautiful. I took lots of pictures and it was just nice to be with everyone having a good time. Now there is a mid-term on friday and I'm hoping I will be able to drag myself to class tomorrow so I can review for the test. Guess I'll see where things go these next couple of days.

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.

Finally in Beirut.

"Wow, your finally in Beirut" my friend says with a look of near disbelief. I can't blame him: I'm surprised that I'm in Beirut myself. This place is hard to understand in many ways. It is extremely beautiful and very prosperous. It is hard to imagine that nearly a month ago that everyone was worried Lebanon would slide back into a civil war. I also want to stay so badly that it is hard for me to see why people would want to leave. Of I course I know that I am more well off then some and feel that I can maintain my safety here should something happen.

The thing I can't shake is the feeling that I should have been able to place myself in high introductory instead of regular intro. It is probably better that I go with a class I know I can handle and I don't regret coming to Beirut without knowing any Arabic but I just felt that I should be able to do more. There will be more updates later.

Summer plans.

Well we have seen that once again I have impeccable timing on my summer plans. I honestly do believe that things will settle down before I arrive but this could last for awhile. Either way its a risky situation but I didn't get into the Middle East because it seemed like the place with the least amount of risks. Truth be told though I still fear Chicago more than Beirut. The amount of crime here lately has been out of control and unlike the violence in the Middle East, this just seems far more random. To sum up my life, if something is going to happen to me it doesn't matter where I am because danger is always lurking around the corner in life. In America though we seem to have this illusion that it doesn't happen here. Maybe that's why we're always pissed when something does go wrong.