Under Siege XIX: Leaving La Vida Loca

After almost a week of quiet nights in Beirut, our sleep has been interrupted with a bang over the last couple of nights. We heard bombing on Thursday night, when bridges in the Christian areas were targeted, as well as last night which I think hit the southern suburbs again. The bombs this time seem to be a lot louder/more powerful - our windows were shaking this morning (the attacks happened at around 5am). The coastal road right next to the sea is still open, but the main artery north out of Beirut has been hit - with the bridge now having a 100 metre gap in the middle of it. For anyone who has driven that delightful road which is normally one big traffic jam, I think some damage was done to the part near the Casino du Liban. Why they couldn't hit the gambling den of iniquity instead is beyond me. Now it has made it even harder to get aid convoys to the south, and by hitting a Christian heartland factions of Lebanese society that might normally (and have) sympathised with the Israelis are uniting against them. When all this is over, I really hope that this new found unity can continue and improve the sometimes precarious political situation.

Jemimah is well, and is growing fast. She has reached the lanky teenager stage now, and is no longer the cute scruffy chick we first saw. She is looking a bit more groomed and, like most teenagers, looks moody. I will try to get another pic today that no one will see for ages as they are not uploading.

Finally, it looks like we may be evacuated next week - time to be decided. Personally, I am absolutely devastated by this decision. We have been through so much, helped a major evacuation be executed successfully (as far as these things ever are), and have plans to work on the aid and reconstruction that to be told that we have to leave feels like a real kick in the teeth. I also feel that I am letting down my Lebanese colleagues and friends. I have been so proud of them and have really felt that it is important for as many Westerners as possible to stay and offer what support they can, be it emotional or economic. Ironically, I understand that one of the reasons we are leaving is because of the threat to Westerners posed by the demo at the UN. Regular readers will know that I was there, and did not feel threatened at all. Maybe I should have invited more people along to see what actually was going on and not allowing them to make judgements based on second hand information.

I'll continue to post up to, and after we leave but I fear the descriptions of my days walking along the Thames and having lattes in Covent Garden may not have the same level of excitement/interest as before... We certainly hope to be back at some point in the next couple of months though.