Summer in the City...

... is not really happening. As soon as we returned the weather turned cold, cloudy and rainy. I was not too bothered for a while as I quite like the cold - but now it is getting a little wearing.

So we have been back for around two weeks now - we've been to Skye, Kent and Wales but have managed to settle in London for a week now. And as predicted we have been meeting people for coffee, dinner and drinks. All very civilised!!

The encouraging news is that people are starting to return now - my old boss at Time Out Beirut is going back on the 3rd and apparently the British Council will be heading back soon too. All this is encouraging for our own return and hopefully a decision will be made next week... until then we will be catching up on the films we missed and other London delights.

I will leave you with this story on the wine harvest. Lebanese wine is fabulous and there were fears that this year's harvest was completely ruined. However, some appears to have been salvaged. The story is part written by my Editor, Ramsay - a man partial to a drink or three himself!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/08/24/wleb24.xml

Pics

Pretty self-explanatory these but one is of the helicopter and the other is of Dom and I on the boat.

Under Siege XXII: Planes, Helicopters, Ships and Automobiles

And so we have left Beirut. I am now safely ensconsed in my parents house in deepest Kent drinking tea, eating fruitcake and watching Sky news to find out what is going on. I have been reliably informed that Sky has been pretty good throughout the conflict. Personally, I am more of a Sky sceptic - anything owned by a Murdoch is not really my cup of tea - but I was willing to give this channel a second chance, sit back and witness the in-depth coverage and analysis. Imagine my surprise then when the illustrative map shown on the screen during the 3pm headline news moved Tyre from its normal position by the sea to the summit of the Chouf mountain range near the border of Syria! Seeing as Sky then broadcast from the beach resort at Tyre itself I can only assume that this was a single lapse in journalistic endeavour.

But enough of such petty detail. Things are looking more positive on the ceasefire agreement. In fact, it should be implemented in a few hours from now. Fingers crossed. Lebanon took a pretty heavy pounding today - as did Northern Israel - and it was very strange seeing the pictures of Beirut without having experienced the sound of the explosions personally this time.

Our evacuation itself was actually pretty eventful and cool. Pictures will follow but suffice it to say that the day went as follows:

a) get to departure point at 9.30am Beirut time - 7.30am BST
b) get on helicopter
c) halfway across sea helicpoter runs low on fuel and so we look for ship to land on
d) US ship spotted - we think we have already agreed to land and refuel; they have no idea who we are. International friendly fire incident only averted by someone spotting the flag on the helicopter and recognising we are an ally.
e) land on ship and get taken down to the mess deck for carbohydrate-intensive chips and beans. I find out that one of the officers was a regular at Ocean City in Maryland where I was an amusement park ride attendant.
f) refuelling over, take off and get to Cyprus.
g) on arrival at Cyprus we are told that there are no flights to the UK owing to it being more dangerous than Beirut (or something).
h) wait around while people organise something.
i) we are put on the Kabul Express alongside lots of squaddies returning from Afghanistan. Only drawback is that we have to wait around for a few hours in the officers' mess. We eat more carbohydrate-intensive food.
j) we fly on the Kabul Express to Brize Norton. Food is disgusting but thankfully we are still full from the officers' mess. There is no entertainment on board but seeing as it is 3am Beirut time that really isn't a problem.
k) land at Brize Norton. There is a car waiting for us that promptly fails to start and we have to jump-start it. At this point my sense of humour fails too as it is 5am Beirut time.
l) arrive at our hotel at 5am BST, 7am Beirut time and fall asleep.

Pretty cool eh? Although the list above makes it sound like a bit of a nightmare it wasn't too bad at all - and how many people have been evacuated by helicopter?!?!?! We're now winding down and seeing family and friends. Scotland beckons and then some time back in London. I am already getting sick of my clothes but am resisting the temptation to buy more... for the moment at least! Next blog will come soon - for those who were mainly interested in the Beirut stuff - I can't blame you for a lesser interest now but keep checking in - we hope to be back soon!

Under Siege XXI: Every Time We Say Goodbye...

We are off tomorrow. We hope to be back in a couple of weeks as there is much to do here in terms of aid work and rebuilding. I have completed my list of 'Brits left in the country' and have handed over the prized spreadsheet containing all the names. I have also done a bit (a very little bit!) of a tidy up in the flat and finished doing the washing. My bags are packed. I have a medium green bag and a small rucksack. It's amazing what you can condense your life into when necessary. The two things I am most upset to be leaving are Panda, my cuddly toy I have had since a baby, and a picture my Granny left me. Everything else I am obviously sad to leave, but can ultimately be replaced.

Jemimah has agreed to mind the house in our absence. I fear she may be a flaky house-sitter as she looks almost ready to fly. However, Sydney will soon be producing another egg or two so hopefully they will be able to keep an eye on things.

We're off for a couple of drinks with the friends we have left tonight. The bombs in the southern suburbs have been getting closer and closer to quite a few friends' houses. When I see what they are having to deal with - the uncertainty of whether they have a home or not, it puts all our worries into perspective.

So let's 'yalla bye' as they say in Lebanon. We will be back. There is still loads to see, do and experience here. And when it's all over, you must all come and visit. The Lebanese economy needs you! More importantly, the Lebanese people need your support.

Pics V

And here is our teenager Jemimah Puddledove...

Pics IV

The oil slick at Byblos. Lebanon's premier beach club is in the background.

Pics III

We don't have a real view of the southern suburbs, but you can see the grey dust cloud inbetween the two buildings here. That was a particularly loud bomb that went off yesterday afternoon. I was outside for the real corkers that went off today (on my balcony) - the shockwave was really huge, even from 5 miles away.

Pics II

Another one of the Bridge...

Pics I

The bridge... I was going to upload the one with Dom in it, but he looks a bit too much like a BBC journalist in it - as opposed to looking like Seb Coe as he normally does.

Under Siege XX: Will We Stay or Will We Go?

And they say that a week is a long time in politics! This evacuation lark has more twists and turns than a twisty turny thing (to paraphrase Blackadder). First of all we are going, so we spend most of the weekend packing; then we are not going, so we stop packing; then I might go, so I think about packing; then we both might go on holiday and return, so we both think about packing things we might not have taken and then unpack things we would have taken if we had been evacuated and not if we were going on holiday which we may now be taking anyway. And it may all change tomorrow!!! And I thought just the bombing was emotionally exhausting!

Packing conumdrums aside, this weekend saw Dom and I venture out of Beirut for the first time in what seems like ages to go and survey some of the damage done on the bridges north of Beirut. I do aim to upload at least one photo of the damage if I can but it is incredible. A whole bridge near Byblos has been taken out. A hole has also been blasted in the bridge near Jounieh although in true Lebanese style, half the bridge is open to traffic. I must say that I quite admire the stoicism of the Lebanese in still using that bridge; if it was left to Health and Safety it would have been completely out of action. We also surveyed the damage an oil slick caused by an Israeli attack on a power station south of Beirut (they only run on imported diesel) had done to the local coastline. Up to 35,000 tonnes of diesel has been spilt so far - when you consider that Exxon Valdez was 40,000 you begin to get an impression of how bad the damage is to Lebanon's none-too-clean-anyway coastline, and it will come as no surprise that this is far and away the biggest environmental disaster in the area ever.

The bombs continue - last night was particularly noisy. And the destruction of the southern suburbs is still happening - Dom's colleague Wissam learnt today that the building opposite hers has been destroyed (she has not been home for some weeks) and that her doors and windows were blown out by the force of the blast. As I have said before, it is the stories of personal loss and fear that affect you the most.

Tonight we are off out for a bite to eat as we continue to support the economy in one of the few ways we can. In the meantime, Dom is watching live coverage from Headlingley as England play Pakistan - and appear to be beating them too - he is particularly excited to hear the voice of David Gower again... Need I say more?

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.

Under Siege XVIII: Jemimah Puddledove

I am very proud to announce that our nesting guest, Sydney, has finally hatched her egg! Jemimah Puddledove has, I think, been hatched for the last few days, but Sydney has only really left her for any length of time today so we could see her. She has actually been sitting on Jemimah for the last couple of days in my opinion because a) JP is quite fully fledged and b) she looks a bit messy and squashed. If anyone can shed any light as to whether doves are in the habit of sitting on their young, please do so. My theory is that despite being hard of hearing, Sydney is actually acutely aware that there is a war on, and so she is protecting her chick. I have a picture which is going to be very hard for my middle sister and Rich to see as the chick is even smaller and better camouflaged than Sydney. I will try to upload it, but the computer is taking ages at the moment which is why there are no pictures of the evacuation or Beirut up either.

Workwise I am still compiling a list of British Citizens left in the country. I estimate that there are around 1000 left - around 3000 left on our ships, and probably another 2000 left by other means. Trying to contact these people is not easy. Most only had Lebanese mobiles which often do not work outside the country. So there have been many shouted conversations with often bemused relatives and my schoolgirl Arabic has been dusted off a little bit. 'INTA BI LUBNAN AU FI'L KHARIJ?' I am often heard to shout (ARE YOU IN LEBANON OR ABROAD?). Anyway, we are getting there and hopefully by next week we will have a better idea of where people are. I thought there were about 15,000 Brits here - as did most of the media.

Last night we went out with a couple of our Lebanese friends who are still in the country - Mayssoun and Fadi - we went to Kayan which is a bar that is normally rammed and not that nice, but has now turned into a very chilled out bar that gave us all a free Tiramisu shot - fab! Mayssoun and Fadi had to leave their house which is very close to the southern suburbs and only have ventured back once to get a change of clothes. They said that going back to their area was really weird - although no buildings have been damaged, the area is completely deserted and it really feels like a ghost town. If anyone is interested in what the southern suburbs of Beirut looked like on the 22nd July - bear in mind that more bombing has happened since - go to http://www.digitalglobe.com/images/qb/beirut_harat_july22_2006_dgwm.jpg
This area is very close to Dom's colleague Wissam - in fact she can see her apartment on the picture. Thankfully it is fine but you can see quite clearly where entire buildings have been demolished. The small buildings in the bottom right corner are part of one of the Palestinan camps (Bourj Al Barajni) and most of the bombing seems to be near that area, although not in it.

The charity I used to work for, IOCC, have started an appeal to help Lebanese who have lost their homes in the bombings. They're currently distributing food parcels to those who have been displaced. I had a chat with my former boss today - he's just managed to get in from Jordan (a 12 hour precarious journey) and he is working hard to coordinate all the work going on. The website has some pictures on: www.iocc.org. Another worthwhile cause is the Lebanese Red Cross - we'll give more details of how to donate soon.

Better go - I have just confused the noise of a rubbish truck with a low flying aircraft so clearly my judgement is getting askew...