5 Week Check In

Hi all. You’ve not received any updated pictures because, apparently, being a single mother is just as hard, if not harder, than anyone could have anticipated. The things we normally do with our “spare” time like emailing, posting new pictures, and chatting on the phone are replaced with the constant attention required to feeding, changing, and soothing. The herculean task of keeping a baby happy and healthy should always be a two person job. When it’s left to one, that person deserves accolades and respect.

Now that those general words to live by have been passed on, I wanted to take a few minutes to make the first posting from my new job in Lebanon. Well, actually, I’m writing this from Budapest, but we can ignore that for now.

In the last five weeks I’ve spent my time doing one of two things: working and trying to get as much of our life set up as humanly possible. I spent a good bit of time the first few weeks trying to find us housing. I went from apartment to apartment, mostly focusing on the neighborhood of Ashrefeyeh, a part of East Beirut which, from my initial observations, has some amazing restaurants, trendy bars, friendly people, and more designer children’s clothing stores than I’ve ever seen in such a small area. Most places were in relatively new apartment buildings intended to re-build following a devastating 15 year civil war. Each apartment, from first view, looked perfectly nice and livable: Newly renovated, way bigger than our current house in DC, spacious kitchens, bathrooms, etc. Until I eventually found the gem that we will live in (view from balcony in photo above), I’d always find something unusual and somewhat laughable: A bathroom door that wouldn’t open all the way because they put the towel rack in the wrong place; a faucet that wouldn’t turn on completely because it was installed too close to the wall; a bedroom that was constructed without space for even a twin sized bed; a loft bedroom with 3.5 foot high ceilings...

As I walk through the streets of Beirut and travel through the country in my initial orientation to my new job, my experience has somewhat mirrored my apartment search. On first look, I’ve observed a country in an amazing period of progress, sophistication, and growth. The streets of Beirut are lined with modern cafes, gourmet restaurants and luxury cars, a 3 mile long boardwalk overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, and with your average taxi driver and shop owner responding effortlessly to you in any of three languages, I am consistently impressed by the quality of life and comforts in and around Beirut. There is little crime to speak of and all can feel safe walking the streets alone (or with baby) at all hours of the night with little more than bad traffic and poor lighting to get in your way. However, after scratching the surface, it is not difficult to see around the shiny new image: buildings still riddled with holes from machine guns and tank shells hiding behind modern sky rises; neighborhoods primarily divided along religious and sectarian lines; somewhat regular sounds (allegedly, I’ve yet to hear them) of Israeli war planes flying overhead conducting training exercises followed by constant discussion of not if but when the bombs will once again arrive from the south; and hundreds of thousands of Palestinians living in squalor in 60 year old refugee camps that most people here would rather ignore than address.

But, as with the apartment hunt, there are gems scattered throughout the complications and troubles of Lebanon. The staff I work with are thoughful, welcoming and passionate about making their country a better place to live. In the beginning, I hope to just not get in their way, make it easier for them to do what they do, and try to learn from them as much as possible.

I return to DC tomorrow to begin the insane task of emptying our home (still looking for a new tenant if you are interested!), spending time with friends and family, and saying goodbye to our life in DC, at least for the time being. I wait in anticipation to have Daniela and Joe with me in Beirut so we can explore this new home of ours. Visitors will be welcome as of early summer. The guest bedroom is booking up fast so reserve your space asap!