Hot Beirut Summer

It's been a hot month here, figuratively and literally. On the literal front, we've spent a good amount of our free time either staying cool in the apartment or lounging by various pools at the selection of beach clubs in and outside of Beirut. Joe, as you can see, is quite happy either crawling (and now standing!) around the house,



or throwing on a pair of little swimmers and chill out at the pool:




Since returning from Greece in the end of June, we finally hired a nanny which has been a godsend for us. Her name is Minda and she is from the Philippines but has been living in Lebanon off and on for 10 years. She loves Joe, takes him around to her friends to brag about him, and has allowed us to get out to experience a bit of what we'd heard about the Beirut nightlife. At night, many of the beach clubs apparently bring out contortionists in clear plastic bubbles to float in the pools while linen-clad men and decked out women unwind near the water, sipping bright blue beverages and dancing to european and local DJs.



Well, ok, it happened once to us, thanks to an old friend's party. Mostly we have gone out for great meals in empty restaurants that are full by the time we are ready to leave as we are still far from accustomed to having dinner after 10pm. The summer in Beirut also brings the music festival scene, and we definitely took advantage of the diverse selection of music on offer, from Chicago Blues to Brazilian genius Caetano Velloso to Gorillaz. Many of the festivals have picturesque settings, with backdrops of ancient ruins, in renovated roman amphitheaters, or nestled into the mountains outside of Beirut.



In our spare time, we have also worked on getting the apartment ready for our summer of visitors, of which we've only just begun with SAISer Casson in town, my family arriving soon, and Daniela's father rolling in right after my family. We are excited as it'll give us the chance to show off our new home and surroundings, and can't wait for Joe to be able to spend good quality time with grandma, grandpas, and uncle Josh. While Daniela and I brought the plants back to life, hung pictures, bought new furniture to fit into our new space that is slightly larger than our 11 foot wide home in DC (we still miss you 913W!),







Joe has prepared for his visitors by, well, just playing a lot.




In addition to the weather, the country situation has heated up a bit as well, with both internal and external tensions on the rise. We are reminded that for all of Lebanon's great cuisine, rich and diverse culture, and picturesque scenery, it is still a country struggling to emerge from decades of civil war, which was followed by 10-15 years of two foreign occupations, and topped off by political assassinations, one follow up war with Israel, and renewed internal violence all within the last 5 years. Most recently, internal tensions have been sparked by reports that a United Nations special tribunal that is investigating the assassination of former Premier Rafiq Hariri will be accusing members of Hezbollah for being involved in the murder. The current government - a coalition of many major political and sectarian groups including Hezbollah - has been challenged by these rumors but have worked hard to maintain the stability and general culture of cooperation that the country has enjoyed in the past couple of years. The legitimacy of the tribunal is being put to the test by a recent spate of arrests in Lebanon of Israeli spies, many of whom are within the telecommunications sector, which is apparently where the tribunal has been able to collect the most amount of evidence linking the plotters with the assassination. The tension was compounded by a couple of hours of violence last week between Israel and Lebanon on the southern border, the first direct violent conflict since the 2006 war. While the border is now calm, it remains to be seen how the tensions will subside. Many hope that the upcoming month of Ramadan will allow for a reprieve, while others put their attention and faith into the various external actors with interests and alliances in Lebanon. Thankfully, it does not appear, at least on the surface, that most of the main external actors in Lebanon, including the US, Saudi Arabia, Israel, or Syria, and especially not the Rempell family living in Beirut, are interested in war here in Lebanon.

All the pictures above and more can be found here:

7 months

love, b,d, and j