Looking Back, Looking Forward

As anyone who follows current affairs in Lebanon will know, Tuesday passed off peacefully. So peacefully, in fact, that I had a lovely little wander around the demonstration and was able to sample the atmosphere, take some pictures, listen to the nationalistic songs and generally look like a tourist, albeit a tourist who attends demonstrations. (On a "actually I do not feel like a tourist note", I bumped into someone - and a Lebanese someone - I know on the bus on Wednesday. Clearly I am now a local).

But back to the demo. At the top of Martyr's Square, where I started my wander, it felt like a family day out - lots of children and a generally chilled out atmosphere. Further into the demo, nearer the Mosque that you will see in the photos I am about to upload, the crowd was more energized, but the good natured atmosphere prevailed. As a caveat, I left around 12.30, so I am not sure if that was maintained, but I believe it was pretty peaceful all day. The police and army were out in force and much searching and looking into handbags was going on, but I certainly didn't feel intimidated at all.

So there you have it, a 'not much to report' shocker. And even the cars weren't hooting as much that evening! Fab!!

So instead of trying to analyse what that means for Lebanon, I will now go on to give you a narrative of what I have been up to this week. Walshe-James towers has been quite busy. I have worked two full days (very hard for a part timer!) and the social life has been full. Dom went to a birthday party last night where he was the youngest one there!!! I have been bonding with my work colleagues and have had a Lebanese haircut. Pretty similar to a British haircut, as you would imagine, but much speedier!!

However, the main news is that my sister Siobhan is coming over today to stay for a week - my first guest! We are going to learn to snowboard (clearly I am hoping that my prowess on skis is to be repeated - hopefully minus the long, embarrassing trudge down the hill this time), visit some Roman ruins, eat food, drink wine and bond!

As promised, I close with some pictures of the demo and of Dom in front of a fire truck.