beyrouth!

mama khoury...lynn...karim...joy...lea... the true beauty of a country really lies within the peoples. and it is because of you guys that i've fallen in love with this country of civil unrest. thank you so much for letting me be a part of your family and friends and for insistingly adding me to all facets of beyrouthi life. your unyielding hospitality to show me the beauty of the land has me befuddled to the point of cartoony frustration at how much potential liban has to offer. my eyes have been opened and it was the best trip i've ever taken....culturally, educationally, socially, relaxingly, seeing family, seeing friends...i felt as if i was a student coming home for the summer. it all starts at the top. and with an awesome mama khoury....its an awesome house. and with an awesome big sis and amazing friend, lynn, the house falls into shape. karim's warmhearted affection leads an entourage that brings a boyish hilarity to the room while the twins are well behaved angels looking up at the world with an innocence i may have long forgotten. again...its an amazing house followed by an amazing country. i miss you all so much. you've touched me more than you realized and with all the circumstance of geopolitics and more specifically the context in which i met lynn in the first place...there is an irony where i feel uber blessed. i dont even know how to thank you enough for everything other than saying you all must come to asia and we will do it all over again (don't forget to bring #theseventhfloor). MY TURN!! keep in touch. love you all.

it really was the best trip i've taken.  i had such a better time in the middle east than i did in europe.  europe has a ton of culture...but because i don't know anyone in europe, europe feels cold.  europeans to me, don't feel as warm as the lebanese security guard waving to me every morning wanting to have a conversation with me....europeans don't feel as warm as the waiter at the restaurant serving me extra falafel...and maybe it's because i was the only chinese person in the country, but there was a warmth of love towards me.  i think the lebanese and it's diaspora are like 華僑.  a strong ethnic minority, just more affectionate.  life is family, friends and food.  a lot of family.  a lot of friends.  and a lot of food.  bring your stretchy pants because once you finish a plate...another plate comes quickly.

this is a place filled with your not so typical oxymorons of life.  their political strife and civil unrest undermines the name "the paris of the east".  the geography of the land reminds me of LA.  the moderate climate beams warm summer sunshine down the mediterranean coastal city of beirut with the mountain range 30 minutes away looking over it.  with ryan seacrest on the radio, it feels just like driving down PCH in southern california.   my first time in the Mediterranean and I LOVED IT.  and then when the weekdays get too hectic, everyone gets off work at 2pm on friday and drives up to the mountain for cooler weather.

it's a lightly populated country of 3 million lebanese...swelling to 4 million with syrian refugees.  to me...lebanon doesn't have bad traffic.  doesn't have bad pollution.  it's people are well mannered.  and hygiene and sanitary conditions are first world.  the locals that complain...just haven't been to china...or india...without overpopulation...a not so developed city can run efficiently...this is exactly the case for lebanon.  modern amenities are everywhere...modern excess is everywhere...if it were not for the fresh scent of war...and the expectation of continued unrest...the infrastructure would be quite beautiful.

without needing a visa, i could've come as a tourist.  but i would never have gotten the experience lynn showed me.  living and breathing and experiencing life as a local.  eating and drinking and meeting friends, enjoying the summer as lebanese do.  and more importantly...i probably couldn't have had the safety being with a family in ashrafieh provided.  beirut is beautiful.  it seems peaceful.  everything about the country i love.  so the next question would be to understand what exactly is going on with its political system that breeds radicals.  beirut is probably safer than jakarta....safer than any city in china...safer than new york city for that matter.  problem in a land of religious radicals, any unsafe option is a bomb.  there's no in between and i took it for granted.

neighboring israel had declared war against the palestinians bombing their tunnels the week before i landed in beirut.  and with me sticking out like a sore thumb on top of holding a US passport, i took safety for granted because its just safe on a daily basis.  however, that all changed when we drove through two checkpoints in the mountains.  first one was military.  second one, a much more serious local police blockade.  they peer through your window...and arbitrarily decide to let u through.  if they want,  they take you and figure out what to do with you later.  that reality...in hindsight...is scary.

"it's not about religion...it's always about land and money"