Today, our last weekend day in Lebanon, I decreed, would be a day of wassailing. It didn’t quite turn out like that, largely because in the afternoon we went in search of the Bird’s Nest, formerly an orphanage and now the Armenian Genocide Memorial. One does get overwhelmed, sometimes, by wave after wave of suffering […]
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Sea change
The Kavanaugh hearing feels like a sea change; surely, decades from now, historians will mark it as another moment in the decline of the United States. It felt like everyone in the world (granted, in my limited circles) was aware of and watching with horror and disgust. The woman giving her testimony, and then the […]
Horizons
Several days without writing, for which I apologise. Work has been very intense indeed, about 500 pages of reports needing the usual heavy handed editing, to be done in a tearing hurry as usual. But the first edit of the last is now in my Drafts folder and will be sent shortly. US politics is […]
Trablous
On Friday, soon after I finished my work the prayer took place at the mosque across the road from the cafe. Soon after it ended the Gentleman Friend arrived, and we hailed a taxi to take us to Al Mina, the port city of Tripoli where we had booked a bed and breakfast in the […]
Three step day
A couple of days without posting as I was either on a futile roadtrip or working or groaning in the throes of a headache. To take these in order: 1. On Wednesday, the Gentleman Friend and I went down to Beirut to collect our passports following visa renewal. It took about 90 minutes to travel […]
Visage libanais
We are now frequenting our neighbourhood forn every day for a lovely little breakfast. This is bookended by the sunset strolls in the afternoons. A very civilised lifestyle. The woman at the forn seems very taken with me, which is unusual as it’s usually the Gentleman Friend who is beloved by all. It’s rather nice […]
Older still
We went back to the Byblos site yesterday and were taken aback to find that it was even bigger than remembered. This time we went in the late afternoon so were less bent on avoiding sunburn (at least for the Gentleman Friend) and took time to explore some of the nooks. I say ‘nooks’. A […]
Day in East Beirut
Yesterday was Saturday and the Gentleman Friend and I woke up bright and early for a breakfast of knefeh and to be taken to Beirut. There, the GF was to participate in some beach cleaning while I was to meet a relative who is in town for work. I was meeting her for lunch so […]
Belt and Road
I listened to a very good podcast episode today, on Sinica. It was on China’s relations with Pakistan over the years, and particularly around CPEC and the election of Imran Khan. The person being interviewed was uncharacteristically informed about Pakistani politics and how it works (and even pronounced all the names correctly, which is rare […]
2 days of glumness
A couple of days of mild glumness have passed, thanks to getting overly excited about potential work opportunities, and then disappointment when one didn’t come through and the other is taking far too long to resolve one way or the other. That said, I am equally unhappy whether I have too much work or too […]