post 175/365
The sweetest aspects of the Middle East would have to be its world-famous desserts, often characterized by their rich syrupy taste, nuts, and lack of cream. Knefeh bil jibin, one of my favorite desserts, is a cheese pastry soaked in sweet, sugar-based syrup, typical of the regions. It is a specialty of the Levant.
post 174/365
Aanjar has a special beauty. The city’s slender columns and fragile arches stand in contrast to the massive bulk of the nearby Anti-Lebanon mountains, an eerie background for Aanjar extensive ruins and the memories of its short but energetic moment in history.
post 173/365
Crisp sounds displayed, tweaked, collaged, and delectably consumed, stretch our ears to a vast hungering palette. Vibrations lead to the tingling mind’s inevitable response, guiding the body through its purity of sound. Hums and hisses are overshadowed by the DJ’s track. Lasers lights dance over the vast sweating fans. The floor is a rhythmic sea of flesh. Dance steps balanced by the DJ’s meticulous craft, as a wave of bodies succumbs to her vibrant enchanting mix, blending together as fans dance the night away.
post 172/365
Beirut Madinati candidacy is not solely for the Beirut municipality elections. Beirut Madinati is a movement. While imagination flowed through every vein of every dreamer, of every person who is seeking change on Sunday the 8th of May, there was a mass awakening of a generation that felt that the oligarchs were drowning their voices out. Oligarchs who have been sworn enemies for years and yet created alliances against a group with no political power whatsoever, because they feared not only their power but ours too.
post 171/365
Beirut is a city of baffling contradictions whose character blends the sophisticated and cosmopolitan with the provincial and parochial. Our city sits atop two hills, Al-Ashrafīyeh (East Beirut) and Al-Muṣayṭibeh (West Beirut), which protrude into the sea as a roughly triangular peninsula. In the immediate hinterland lies a narrow coastal plain (Al-Sāḥil) that extends from the mouth of the Nahr Al-Kalb (Dog River) in the north to that of the Nahr Al-Dāmūr (Damur River) in the south.
post 170/365
Generosity consists not of the sum given, but the manner in which it is bestowed.
Mahatma Gandhi
post 169/365
The beautiful heartfelt words we communicate with unconsciously on daily basis are a true treasure of the Lebanese and Arabic language. It’s that manner of communication that brings a certain flavor to our relationships and how we use wholehearted words to express certain ideas.
post 168/365
A certain air of solemn solitude hangs above the air of this dormant village as if time is afraid to stir it from its deep sleep. Somehow its beautiful old stone houses with red roofs have withstood the test of time, as if cast under an eternal spell.
post 167/365
A drive up on the scenic road from Batroun to Assia bears a glorious image of cordial heritage that attracts us to our roots. The area hasn’t changed much since ancient times and nor have their traditions.
365 Days of Lebanon 