Backin' Beirut!!

Hurrah, I am back!!

It's really good to be back again - the weather is perfect and there have been some really clear days and great views up to the hills above the city.

In terms of life in the city, things have really gone back to how they were before the war - even more so in some cases - an example follows:

It is my birthday on Sunday. I am therefore having a couple of vodkas to celebrate on Friday night and, in honour of the auspicious nature of my 32nd, I thought I would go to our local Karaoke bar. No such luck. We rang up last night to book a table and they had already all been taken!! Haram!!!! This is the venue where we could always turn up on a Friday and get seating for at least five or six people. No longer it seems. Beirutis are clearly so glad to be back that they are attending Karaoke in their droves! Instead I am heading to a bar often frequented by youth on their way to the clubs of Monot, but one where you can generally get a seat and hear each other speak. I'm not getting old, oh no!

But the general business of the bars and clubs is to be welcomed. The Lebanese, as I think Dom has observed before, are very gregarious, social people. And now that certain parts of society are returning, they are living for the moment. My observation is that it is mainly the young, middle income Lebanese who are returning and staying. The poor could not leave, and the very wealthy are either staying away full stop, or are coming back to pack up and leave for six months to a year - if not for good. Most of my friends and colleagues have returned. Time Out is launching online on Oct 9, and IOCC is carrying out relief work in the south.

In everyday life, the shops are well stocked, although the farmers in the Bekaa have really suffered this year with many of their crops being destroyed. Lettuce is very hard to find, for example. There are still problems with milk supplies too. Bizarrely, the place with the best supplies that we have found is the Medco petrol garage near Downtown. Maybe the suppliers do some sort of milk/petrol swap... Office and apartment rents have also increased, and people are wanting you to commit for 9 months to a year up front.

But these things are all to be expected, to be honest. No one thought for a moment that Lebanon would go straight back to how it was. There are still many reminders of the war around - warships off the coast, reports on the radio of bodies still being found under buildings in the south and the fact that there are many more landmines in the south than before - without maps showing their location this time. However, most of the damage to the southern suburbs of Beirut has been cleared and, thankfully (and miraculously), none of my friends' houses from that area were damaged. Hopefully the rebuilding programme will continue apace.

Looking forward on a more personal/trivial note, I am to break the habit of a lifetime and enter the Beirut 10K run! It will be held on the same day as the marathon, but I am not so badly shell-shocked as to enter the marathon proper. I have therefore started my training regime and am facing my hatred of running. So far, I can confirm that I still hate it. I have been assured by many though, that you eventually get to like it. The chances of that are slim, but I will persevere. Details will follow of the charity you can all donate to.

As I sign off to continue my short period of being a lady of leisure, I will reiterate - it's really great to be back.

Guest writer 4 - extreme hiking

My final entry as the good news is that Fi is coming back next week, so you might get to read something more interesting soon. Not sure exactly when but probably in time for the weekend which will be good. Things have continued to get easier and renewed conflict seems less and less likely - at least between Hizbullah and Israel. Interesting that Olmert's former chief-of-staff said this week it was a'scandalous' decision to go to war in the first place - perhaps he should have spoken up earlier... But the Spanish, French and Italian troops are coming ashore in the south. In fact the French are here in Beirut as I got caught up in a convoy of APCs near the port and told off for driving too close. People are a bit jumpy, understandably. But there was a great pic in the local paper of a hard-nosed Spanish marine in a wetsuit coming ashore at Tyre with this attractive Lebanese girl in a bikini giving him a slightly quizzical look. Not sure who is more surprised to see the other - Afghanistan it isn't!

This last week (of work) seemed to turn into a massive lunch and dinner fest. I guess I am seeing my old contacts and they are pleased I am back and taking me out. I had 6 meals out in a row and you can only do it so often - it is time consuming and you can't take notes so you forget half of what they tell you - but generosity is not a problem in this country. The mood continues to be mixed, and business people are still depressed, but we have increasing interest in the rebuilding programme from the UK which is good. I think I will be fairly busy this Autumn.

Today I went off hiking to a place called Bentael, which is east of Byblos in the foothills of the mountains. It seemed a great idea! But we went in late morning in about 30 degrees, the paths seemed to be mostly vertical up or down and by an hour or so we were really horribly sweaty and I am not very fit! So that was that and we went to visit an old church with medieval frescos - quite nice - with a priest who got his St Marks and St Johns mixed up. There was a fresco of St George - not a lot of people know that England's patron saint is in fact Lebanese, (or whatever the 12th century equivalent of Lebanon was - I think the crusader County of Tripoli) and the dragon was reportedly slain at the mouth of Beirut river! I don't think dragons or anything else would be tempted to go to the concrete horror that is Beirut river now.

Then to Byblos for lunch - they have cleaned up most of the oil but it is still staining a lot of the water and the medieval stonework. Getting there remains an adventure but a lot better than before - the holes in the bridges have not been fixed, but they have built temporary bypasses which mean you are only delayed minutes rather than up to an hour. But I am not sure if they will survive the rainy season...but for now the weather is lovely - still a bit too hot though.

Well it's been nice doing this - Fi will be back very soon. I just spoke to her - she has mixed feelings as did I, but it really is a great place to spend a few years (apart from the odd war), and I think will not be too long before it gets its mojo back. So come and visit sometime - but check the travel advice first!!

Guest writer 3 - Beirut back to normal??

Hello everyone it is Dom here. I got back to Beirut on Monday through a very tiring and adventurous route which I don't even want to think about doing again. The annoying thing is that I could have flown direct from London if I had waited 3 days. Oh well...

I have returned alone sadly, but it is looking like Fi will be coming back in a week or so, as things are incredibly back to normal - in our part of Beirut at least.

The Lebanese have an amazing capacity for enjoyment at a very difficult time, and have been out celebrating the lifting of the air and sea blockades in a very big way. I went to one of my favourite bars on Friday - in Gemmayzeh (described recently as the Shoreditch of Beirut - but to the best of my knowledge without the strip bars!), and could barely get in the doors. I was then persuaded by the fine bartender to drink several peach daiquaries (it's yellow, fruity and makes you look very gay!) on top of quite a few wines earlier on - so consequently had the mother of all hangovers on Saturday.
But I am sure you are not interested in all that. What's happening out there? Well there is quite a bit of political debate and anger over whose fault it all is, and Hizbullah seem to be relatively contrite. Israel though remains public enemy number one. Olmert seems to be making overtures to the Lebanese government but I can't see these are anything but attempts to save his own skin - there is no way the Lebanese could accept any kind of peace in the current climate.
Shiploads of foreign troops are arriving. Still not that quickly but it really doesn't seem likely that there will be another outbreak of fighting - perhaps a few incidents. The shops are starting to fill up again - fresh fish and milk are back! I had a spaghetti marinara at an italian place last night which was delicious. The traffic is a bit crazy again, and there is plenty of petrol though only 95 and not 98 (I am no expert but 98 is posher petrol which is better for the car..). The weather is gorgeous and I have been sitting on my balcony. A lot of weddings which were cancelled in the war are now taking place resulting in lots of convoys of hooting cars. I went to a rooftop bar last night for a couple - the sort of place which I am getting too old for as the music was way too loud!! It was so busy we could not initially get in - and served the weakest mojito I have had for a while. Today I have been sorting out the flat which was a tip - mainly as we packed everything up ready to go for good and now have to unpack it.
The destroyed bridges remain a problem although the army has been very quick to build diversions so what was 90 minutes of delay going north is now 30 minutes.
I am back at work and mainly just speaking to people and getting a feel for the mood. It is very mixed - there has been a big brain drain and it is too early to say whether these young talented people which Lebanon needs will come back. Some bars (Paddys) have closed for good - he is selling up and returned to Dublin! I am seeing the Ministry of Tourism this week so will get an idea what they are planning. Lebanon needs the big-spending Gulfis to come back for Ramadan (in about 2-3 weeks) - a bit early I think although they might come back for the festival at the end of Ramadan (23-24 October). They will still have a better time here than in the west where they get so much trouble with security. But Lebanon needs to broaden its base beyond tourism and banking now - and people are asking what is the point if Israel is going to trash it every few years? The Hizbullah issue needs to be solved within a couple of years - the international forces will not stay for ever. But meanwhile the priority is getting Lebanon moving and working again.

As for me - well it is a bit of a weird life as very few of my Brit or Lebanese friends are here. I had a drink with Fadi and Mayssoun last week and others have come back in the last few days. I am missing Fi who seems to be enjoying London - even without me! But the Canadians have now relaxed their travel advice and I am sure we are mulling ours. Next weekend I hope to travel around the country a bit to have a look at what is going on - but for now the happy news is that Beirut is coming back to life again, and it is great to be back.