My Flower

I was walking around AUB and saw a flowering bush that I really liked.  I showed a photograph to Mikey (our resident shrub expert) and he told me that it was a Lantana, a flower we have these in the US, but that doesn't grow from flowers to bushes because it isn't warm enough. 

A few days later Mikey and Cindy came home with a flower they bought off a man off the street, and so I set out to find him to buy my own lantana to keep while I'm here. 

Mikey and Cindy bought a Verbena.

When I found him, I knew:

I asked if he had lantana and he said he didn't, but could get one if I came back the next week.  He also helped me practice the proununciation of my good morning, which is "Sab7a L5iir" when transliterated (the 7 and 5 stand for different complicated h sounds we don't have in english).  You have to say it like you have something stuck in your throat.

I went back this week and sure enough, he had a lantana for me.  He could only find yellow, but told me he would look for one in other colors and I should keep checking in.  It was only 4,000 Lebanese Lira, which is about $2.66.

I'm excited to wake up to my pretty yellow flower everyday.  I plan to give it to a Lebanese friend when I leave, and since it only has to be watered twice a week, chances are it'll live until them.  Whew...

Cooper

Traveling abroad is always full of surprises, but never so much as when you're traveling with a 2 year old!  My friends Mikey and Cindy came back to Lebanon with me this year, and they brought their 2-year-old son Cooper.  This isn't Cooper's first time overseas.  He was actually born in Slovakia, so this is his 6th country.  He's going to have quite the wanderlust when he gets older, but he won't remember why.

Cooper with his toy plane. 
He likes to make houses for everything so that box is his plane's house.


When going to a new culture with kids, it's hard to guess what the social norms are going to be.  Will it be difficult to travel with them?  Can you find food for them?  Diapers?  Well Cooper fits right in here.  Not only is hummus his favorite food, but he also likes the milk and yogurt, and baby stuff is really easy to come by.  Cooper travels like a pro, and will even nap in his stroller if he needs to. 

Sometimes Cooper hitches a ride. 

Mikey and Cooper at the ruins in Tyre. 
Cooper was really excited because he got to play with
sticks the whole time we were there.

The absolutely most fun thing about having a baby in Lebanon though is how much the men love babies.  Random men off the street come up and hug him.  Taxi drivers give him kisses.  Waiters in restaurants pick him up and walk around with him and play with him with the other servers.  People give him oreos. 

One day we were on the campus of the Lebanese American University and Mikey and Cooper were at the bottom of a hill.   I was at the top and all the guy students were standing up and peering over the hedges to see the baby. Another day a guard stopped us and we were a little confused.  He turned back around with a tissue and wiped Cooper's nose and then told us we could keep going.  Can't let that baby walk around with a runny nose!

This server from a restaurant on the other side
of the street crossed over just to give him a cookie.

Cooper fits right in here and I'm so glad he came.  Of course, my favorite thing about having him here is all the quality time I get with him.  We've bonded over my ability to swing him upside down by his feet, and he doesn't mind when I (very) poorly sing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider."  This trip would truly not be the same without him.  Too bad he's too young to remember all the adventure and love he got in Lebanon.  I guess he'll just have to come back again when he's older.


Cooper will jump into my arms and fling himself upside down saying, "Again. again."
He loves it when I spin him around by his feet. 







Tyre

Tyre is the southernmost city of Lebanon.  It is an old city that became very rich from it's trading industry.  Many civilizations over the years longed to take over Tyre, Alexander the Great was the first to take hold of it after laying siege to it for 7 months.  Tyre today is rebuilding after many wars and hardships.

Tyre has many marks of its eclectic past, but some of the most outstanding are the scads of Roman ruins across the city.

In Tyre you will find the ruins of a Roman city that was home to a market, a boxing/wrestling arena, a public bath, a glass factory, and a shipyard. 

A couple of decades ago archaeologists excavated the tomb of Medusa there, hidden in a hillside. 

Tyre also has the ruins of the largest Necropolis in the world.  A Necropolis was a 'city of death,' essentially a graveyard, in ancient Rome. Today you can visit the necropolis, climb on a few sarcophagi, and even take some pictures with all of the bones lying around.



The Necropolis is a maze of sarcophagi and crypts

 

In the Necropolis there is an Arc of Triumph, a tribute from the Tyrans to there Roman Emperor in 2nd century BC. 

The Arc of Triumph
66ft tall

The Arc of Triumph

Next the the Necropolis is a hippodrome, a Roman racing track.  This hippodrome is one of the 2 largest in the world (the Lebanese like to claim theirs is the largest, while the Italians claim they have the largest in Rome).  In its heyday this hippodrome could hold 20 to 30 thousand people for a horse or chariot race.

The Hippodrome 'Racetrack'
524 yards long x 175 yards wide

The Hippodrome Bleachers

East Eats West

esYou may have heard that Lebanon is an East meets West kind of country.  There is truly no place on earth that has it's mix of cultures.  Upon visiting Beirut, you might be surprised to find that along with the call to prayer played 5 times a day and great Mediterraean cuisine (amoung many), there are many many American restaurant chains.  I've pictured a few below for your viewing pleasure.

Restaurants not pictured (that I can think of ):  KFC; Chilli's; TGI Friday's

And just in case food isn't enough, Beirut also has many American retatilers ready to let you use your purchasing power to feel right at home. 



Not pictured (that I can think of ):  the Apple store

Sidon

Sidon is known for it's fishing industry.  Long before Lebanon was a country, Sidon was called Saidoon by the Phonecians (the people who invented the first alphabet).  It now also goes by Saida, it's Arabic name.  Sidon used to be independent, and in constant competition with Tyre, it's neighbor to the south.  Today however they both reside in the bounds of Lebanon.  One of the biggest differences between them is that Sidon is predominately Sunni Muslim and Tyre is Shiiate Muslim.    

The Port of Sidon

Sidon is home to many leftovers of antiquity, from almost every culture that settled it over thousands of years.  The Temple of Asherah and Altar of Baal are there.  

There are Roman Roads:

There is a Crusaders' Castle:

The Castle on the Water

 

 

There is a soap factory.  Soap was discoverd/invented in the Middle East.  It was a part of daily life here centuries before other culutres.

Soap waiting to harden to be cut into bars.

Cut bars that have already dried
(Soap takes 45 days-1 year to dry completely.)



Old Sidon is a beautiful part of town, and wisely it's mostly in the shade. 

However, you have to be careful because as you're wandering and admiring the scenery you'll run across a lot of this:

I really loved my time in Sidon!  I hope I get to go back one day and see some more of it.