post 108/365
As I walked through the crowded alleys of Burj Hammoud, with its many shops of different colors and sizes. I stumbled upon a tiny little shop. Simon Constantinian, a watch repairman, a knife sharpening man, a poet, and an accordionist, owns this little shop of 1 meter by 3 meters.
post 106/365
Beirut’s cultural importance is embodied in its five major universities, which attract students from all over the Arab world and beyond. Lebanon is home to the oldest private university in the Near East region, which is located on the most beautiful coastal area at the tip of the city of Beirut. The campus covers 65 acres of gardens, 19th century buildings and wooded areas. It has a rich collection of flowers, shrubs and trees, an archeological museum, and a private beach for students and staff, making it the most beautiful campus in the region.
post 99/365
Nothing in this world compares to the feeling of gliding through a rocky mountain gliding under the skis, silently and feeling like you’re, for once, at peace. White snow covers the land with the coolness of winter’s kiss. The warmth of the sun never leaves this country as the cold settles in. Winter swims, hikes, and skiing with the scent of chill ting the air. The breeze circles, lost, caught in winter’s snare. Its bitter currents whispered through a miasma of cold waves. A world encased in this winters kiss swims in the sun’s dying rays. I, on the other hand, sit on the beach and enjoy this motley of fading blues entombed in the silence of space.
post 97/365
This is war paint, he puts it on everyday so we can remind ourselves of the atrocities of a distance past. They seam like distant dreams painted to heal open wounds. Although his paintings are just pictures of this collective memory of a bygone war era, yet they are worthy of a thousand words as real as life itself.
post 96/365
Scarred from the relentless passage of time pitted with bombshells and covered with grime forgotten by those who oft pass it by, it rarely is gazed upon by anyone’s eye. Haunted by memories, littered with broken dreams, this old building crumbling down under the weight of its own conscious, stands there as a reminder of dark times passed.
post 94/365
There is art housed and closed, somehow it stagnates in museums under cold lock and key. And then there is art right here, open and fresh and free. The art of the city embraces us. It tells us its narrative and the power of its youth. If these walls could speak, they’d tell you all about art and life in Beirut; whispered from spray cans.
post 93/365
The many charms of Lebanese food is its varied desserts, rich, sweet, and full of flavors. Sometimes a name can elevate and carry a certain resonance to something so simple. This amazingly aromatic dessert that is quite refreshing with a rich complex taste stemming from subtle hints of Mastic (Arabic Gum), orange blossom water and rose water carries a poetic name that speaks volumes about our culture.
post 90/365
The wise man, the cynical man, and the man in love share this in common; they all see the world in terms of infinite possibility. To survive in this new world, one must be witty and sarcastic. In a country where the political and judicial system would play a main role for any absurdist play, where politicians who once were sworn enemies, in a day’s coup become partners, the Lebanese confused can’t even agree to disagree when it comes to their own political standing. In this deafening cacophony of resonance of this political satire we live in, there is one person the Lebanese unanimously love, quote, and recite entire dialogues and songs of; Lebanon’s cynical genius, Ziad Rahbani.
post 89/365
If you look into the sky above Gemmayze amongst its old buildings, you might be able to catch time fly by. The sands of the hourglass slowly decay away. The future longed for hangs in the air murmuring through its little alleys of a golden age that once was.
post 88/365
While Aladdin had to go through a booby-trapped magic cave to get his oil lamp that would grant him his wishes, in Lebanon a simple phone call would have done. I really mean it, name it and you’ve got it. Everything in Lebanon, absolutely everything is only a phone call away. There is no need to sweet talk a genie, a simple “allo, please biddeh itlob delivery” (please I would like to order a delivery) would do.
365 Days of Lebanon 