*English Girl in Beirut*

Lebanese Girls


Listening to this music this evening and watching the video reminded me of Lebanon in the Middle East….

Most of you know, but if you don’t, you need to know I am married to Eric, my ‘King’ my hero. We met online, he in Canada me in England chatting endlessly and getting to know one another. He told me he was Lebanese, from Beirut, a country I knew nothing about. He talked of Beirut, which embarrassingly I had to confess too later, to thinking was actually a country, not the capital!! Duh to me!

I was not alone in making that mistake, most of my family here in England had only heard of Beirut on the news in the context of war, death and poverty. News reports often referred to deprived areas of Hull (where we live now) as LITTLE BEIRUT! At the time I was livid and complained to our local newspaper that they could not compare run down slums in Hull with worn torn Beirut… their curt response was that the local residents had named it that!

I was very keen to visit Beirut, this city on the other side of the world that was so DIFFERENT to what I knew here in England. Eric told me numerous stories of his life in Lebanon, life in the war and how their culture differed so much to ours in the UK. I found it very difficult to believe, comprehend or understand the different way of life there.

My first visit, I was SCARED SHITLESS, walking into Beirut International Airport, I had never been outside Europe, never even thought of visiting a far off place in the Middle East. My eyes were immediately drawn to all the soldiers carry large guns!!!!…You got to remember I had never seen a real gun, no guns in England….well not then. I just felt incredibly intimidated. Silly really. I am used to it now when we visit.

Another thing I noticed immediately, yes there were lots of women covered… (Beirut is half Christian and half Muslim) but there were also LOTS of women dressed with a very Western taste… revealing a lot! I was a little confused. I was soon distracted however when we left the airport in the car where I FEARED seriously for my life!!!! Absolutely no regard to road signs, speed limits, rights of way, traffic lights OMG!!!! I shouted at that point….Eric said “don’t worry that is normal”!!

First observations… when I finally relaxed, was the startling beauty of this small country. The crystal blue waters to your left and too your right up, up, up the beautiful rugged mountains with snow perched on the tops. Yes there was poverty but these Lebanese people were genuine, happy with their lot and showed such unbelievable kindness, it was hard for me to believe they were so happy!

The Lebanese people have a raw deal, in the West, we are VERY fortunate… and don’t realise it …… Lebanon, with god’s permission, will become permanently peaceful, it does not deserve continual punishment. The people have nowhere to go when war breaks out, they live with it, but why should they have too??! Its making me angry, I need to leave this topic!

Since I visited Beirut, thanks to Eric, I have been introduced to a mass of interesting bits of historical knowledge, the cultural differences between us, some good some bad, I might add!…. some just AMAZING facts and some things I just couldn’t believe till I had seen evidence with my own two eyes!!

14th February 2005, I experienced first hand what it was like to live in a country surrounded by the threat of ‘instant death’!!

A massive car bomb exploded on the main highway killing the then president Rafik Hariri. We had Raphael with us, then 4 months old, oblivious to his surroundings and the anger, politics caused! Fortunately Raphael and I were at Eric’s brothers house, but Eric was not, he was out and about with his brother, quite possibly on THAT highway. It suddenly shook me so hard the reality of this life, I was SCARED again in Beirut… Eric’s family laughed at my neurotic paranoia. Eric and his brother were ok, and came home safely to my greatest relief!

Scenes from after the bomb went off, damaging buildings and creating a massive crater in the road.

It took a couple of years before it was reasonably safe for us to visit this beautiful country again. The incredible rich beauty of this land had drawn me back. How cool was it to visit the beach in the morning and play in thick snow in the mountains in the afternoon?? You needed a good RELIABLE CAR the roads REALLY were treacherous! I also suffered continually with ear pressure, the terrain was so mountainous, up and down, it felt like I was landing in the airplane all over again.

At the beginning of this year we took Raphael again to see his Lebanese relatives, fantastic to have guaranteed sunshine AND an opportunity to explore the Beirut nightlife. The bars were fabulous, the ladies ‘bathroom’ was a WOW ..and downtown Beirut was busier at night than during the day, with colourful street cafes and amazing shops selling top quality items. The food in the restaurants was divine and the company and service was exquisite. Highly recommended if you are a ‘people watcher’.

Lebanese people, particularly the women are BEAUTIFUL they take extreme care over their appearance. It was the first time I had seen lip lines… in Beirut. A couple of months later the trend began to appear in the UK! The elegant girls are immaculately dressed and spend BIG money on their beauty. I definitely felt the poor neglected relative when I looked around me! I quite often felt eyes on me whilst walking in Beirut… I am VERY white, unmistakably English and that’s before I even opened my mouth!!!

There was certain etiquette that Eric told me of beforehand, and I was thankful for the tips on the way a meal was conducted in the family home… women do, men just eat what us women do! I also had to understand that equality as it appears here in the UK is NOT the same in the Middle East… I still have a lot of learning, understanding and accepting to do on that one!

I am thinking I am quite ashamed that the majority of English men do not have the same regard for their wives as Lebanese men folk do, I have been married to a ‘typical English guy’ so I CAN compare, and for me, that marriage was not going to last for ever.

So coming to end of this blog and I still can’t think of a title, perhaps “English Girl in Beirut” or "Beautiful Beyrouth" as the locals call it. I have learnt alot through visiting this country and its people.

Written By

Cinnamon

Sue-Raphael's Mum