Arabic

During my time in Lebanon I set my mind to learning Lebanese Arabic, which feels a little like fighting an angry hippo with a Q-tip.  I am taking a few Arabic classes while here, but a couple hours 4 weeks a year weren't getting me very far.  After realizing there is no casually learning Arabic, I invested in a few books on the Lebanese dialect and a few orthanography books on the Arabic language.  I am about halfway through the Arabic alpabet, and I can ask you your name, your friend's name, and if it's time for a break.

Arabic class is good, but we always leave tired!  There are just so many sounds in Arabic that we don't have in English.  Not only are they difficult to pronounce, but it's hard to even hear them apart.  We love our Arabic teacher Nivine though.  She really wants us to learn Lebanese Arabic, and she makes class fun. 

It's Laundry Day!

One convenience that is pretty unique to America is clothes dryers.  Most other places in the world air dry their clothes, if not wash them by hand all together.  Americans are some of the only people in the world who are so impatient for their clothes to dry that they would spend money to own and run a machine to speed up the process. 

I however, lack not only a clothes dryer but also a clothes washer here in Lebanon.  Thus is instituted the weekly ritual of laundry day.

My friends Mikey and Cindy came with their baby Cooper, so they have a lot more laundry to do than I.



For convienence Mikey does laundry in the bidet. 
Don't worry, they don't use it as a bidet, and Cindy thoroughly cleaned it. 



I'm an old-fashioned girl; I do my laundry in the sink.

 

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. 







Arrr!

On Wednesday night some of my American and Lebanese friends went to see the premier of the new "Pirates of the Carribean" movie.  I wanted to go but decided to stay behind because I wasn't feeling well (I'm feeling better now though. :o) ).  I did however send my camera on because they all dressed as pirates!  The Lebanese had never seen anything like it, but thought it was a great idea.  Everyone had so much fun that when they came home and couldn't stop talking about it.  Note to self:  movies are more fun in costume.