Weekend Update

People in this country, Lebanese and other, are so friendly and open. Our weekend was full of lovely people. Friday night we gathered on the 7th floor of our building at Tony and Anne's. Their son is visiting from Paris so they hosted a really wonderful party, mostly foreigners but some Lebanese as well. The food was catered and it was delicious. I have yet to have a bad meal in Lebanon. The conversation is almost always stimulating because most people who live here have lived all over the world, particularly the Middle East. It's fascinating to hear stories about Saudi Arabia and Jordan. We are lucky to be in the most liberal Middle Eastern country. There is a nice blend here of Western and Arab life. We are exposed to a new culture without being overwhelmed or threatened.

We experienced some of the Muslim culture on Saturday evening. A friend from school invited us to her family's home for Iftar. During Ramadan, this period of fasting, (Muslims fast for 30 days before Eid, the holiday that begins tomorrow) people do not eat or drink all day from sunrise to sunset. After the sun goes down they sit together for a traditional dinner, or Iftar. You begin with a prune or a special juice, then you have soup, fatoosh (Lebanese salad) and the main course varies. Because D and I are vegetarian, Dana's family made lots of vegetarian dishes for us. We ate and ate- it was so good. After dinner we sat on the balcony, drank turkish coffee and ate more- these delcious pancake type desserts. At this time of night Beirut came alive. Because people are fasting they tend to stay home and have very quiet, easy days and many of the shops are closed. But after sunset the city wakes up, people go out for shopping and celebrating. We had a great view from Dana's balcony.

Sunday we had yet another fantastic experience. There is an international hiking group called Hashers that is made up of locals and foreigners. You spend the afternoon hiking in various and remote parts of the country, and then you reward your hard efforts with drinking beer and dinner at a local restaurant. Yesterday's hike was in Mt. Lebanon, not too far from Beirut. It wasn't too long or strenuous but the view was spectacular. After the hike we went to a local restaurant for a feast. The mezze was incredible! And again, a wonderous view of Beirut all lit up beneath us.

Back to school for today- but we just got word that we will be off Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday for Eid- the Muslim holiday I mentioned before. It's one of the biggest celebrations here that ends the fasting of Ramadan. For this holiday the traditional meal is at lunch, because it's the first time you can eat during sunlight!

Byblos

On Sunday, September 14, the president of IC John Johnson took the new foreign hires to the town of Byblos for an orientation activity. Byblos is just north of Beirut. Derek says "if you look at a map you won't believe it's only 36 km away. It goes to show how small the country is." Byblos claimed to be the oldest city that has been continuously inhabited. The "main attraction" is the Byblos Castle and the large excavation site that uncovered ruins and artifacts from 8,000 years ago. At the castle we had a great tour guide who filled us in on all kinds of history. Derek and I are doing our best to remember the details, but some of this information might look familiar if you spend any time on Wikipedia.

Byblos was founded by the Phoenicians some 7-8,000 years ago. It was inhabited by 17 different groups including the Assyrians, Persians, Romans, Crusaders, Ottomans, French and of course, the Lebanese. It is called Byblos (meaning bible) by the Greeks because the imported Egyptian papyrus with which they made bibles. It is also thought to be one of the first places to use the 22 letter Phoenician alphabet.

All history aside, it's a beautifully antique town that sits on the sea surrounded by sandy beaches, old market places and ancient history. We had a great day (despite the almost unbearable heat) and hope to go back soon because supposedly the best margarita in Lebanon lives in Byblos!

Here is the castle at Byblos. The castle was built in the 12th century by the Crusaders. The built this castle upon the old foundation of the Roman castle from between the 1st and 3rd century.


These are the ruins on the grounds surrounding the castle. When the excavation began around 1920 by the French they discovered 17 different layers of ruins. If you look closely at this picture you can see the different levels. The house in the back was left to show ground level before excavation. In this next picture you see the artificial red circle- in the center of that circle is a small black circle that marks ground level before excavation.

We climbed down this hole...

to see this sarcophagus. Apparently a few thousand years ago (around 1200 BC) when a king or equivalent died, the Phoenicians would dig holes something like 20 or 30 feet deep. They would fill the hole with sand, place the tomb and personal effects on top of the sand then from the bottom of the hole, start removing the sand. This created an elevator like system that eventually ended with the tomb at the bottom of the hole. The picture to the left is the tomb (now empty) at the bottom of the hole from the picture above. If they had dug any deeper they would have reached sea level.

Here is the small group of other teachers that joined us for the tour. The guy on the end (not Derek) is Rodrigo and he has been here for a year. The other two girls arrived with us. They just graduated college and are here as teaching fellows.



This is the port where we sat for a Lebanese seafood feast. The food in this country really is delicious and you just can't beat this view.

View from Byblos inland, with the cedar trees guarding.

Saturday in Larnaka, Cyprus

Less than 2 weeks in Lebanon and we've already hopped to another country! Last Saturday we flew to Cyprus, just for the day. This was a total bonus for us because IC paid for it! In order to get our work visas stamped in our passports we had to leave the country and come back in with a "clean slate". So, we got on the plane at 7am, spent all day strolling and lounging in the city ofLarnaka and were back in Beirut by 10:30pm. It was quite a day!

We spent most of the morning on the beach where thankfully, there was a breeze. The water was crystal clear and the perfect temperature. When we'd had enough sun and water we set out to explore a bit of the town. As we strolled through the old part of Larnaka we stumbled upon a really beautiful church. We went closer to see if it had any significance and found out that this church was the home to the tomb of St. Lazarus, the man Jesus is said to have risen from the dead. His body was taken from the tomb in exchange for money to build this church, which has survived many changes of hand including the switch from Christianity to Eastern Orthodox. It still holds the sacarphagus in the cave-like cellar that you see here. It felt almost mystical to be touching something from the time of Jesus.

After our second dip in the sea, it was time to try one of the many, many, many seafood restaurants along the water. Ya know how some people just have a knack for knowing the "hot spots"? Well, Derek and I both missed that gene. We were intrigued by a place called Grandpapa's just a stone's throw from where we had our last swim. We walked in and the place was empty, but we figured it was probably just early. we had our pick of tables- we choose one that was less than a foot away from the waters edge. After being told they were "finished" with our first cuisine choices, we both decided to forego the vegetarianism and have some chicken. D orded the cutlet, and I the kebab. We both got the same thing. But it was pretty good, and the view was just spectacular, so really, it was a perfect dinner. It was a quick ride to the airport, as you can see from the picture the planes were flying right over us to land. We had an uneventful trip home until we tried to get our visas. Let's just say we got a taste of what it would be like to "break the rules" at the Lebanese airport. Luckily our driver was there to meet us and assured us there was "no problem." What was so interesting was that even though we've been here less than 2 weeks when we got out of the airport it felt like we were home. It was comforting.

Here's a nice view from the restaraunt of a ship sailing under the almost full moon...

Driving into Beirut

This is the drive from Byblos towards Beirut, with a little Mike Bloomfield to drown out most of the girly banter.

View from the Elementary School

When you walk out the front door of the Elementary school, you are on the Corniche which is the boardwalk along the coastline in Beirut. You can see right across the street is the Middle eastern ocean. It's a shame I don't have this view from my classroom but if I did, I'm not sure I'd get anything done. On the 4th floor is the teacher's lounge where there is a balcony that looks beyond the street onto the waves crashing against the rocks. It's really quite beautiful.

There are a lot of workshops for professional development so I am very busy. I can't wait until the first day. Having the kids in class will remind me why I'm working so hard instead of sunbathing right across the street at the beach!

Life in Ras Beirut

Derek and I have been here for one week now, and so far all is great. Orientation programs started this week- Derek will be teaching English at the seconday school (grades 10-12) and I am the classroom teacher for grade 1. The elementary schools follows the PYP program, which is part of the International Baccalaureate program. It's very new to me, but a theory of inquiry learning that I really appreciate. Teachers start tomorrow, but students don't start until September 24. So far we have exlpored our neighborhood which includes lots of small Lebanese markets, a few very Western food-chain stores, and a swim in the Mediterranean sea- yes, a ten minute walk from our place!
Lebanon, along with other Muslim countries, is celebrating Ramadan right now which means a lot of people are fasting during day-light, and a lot of shops and businesses are only open for a few hours a day if at all. It's acutally a nice time to be here because we can ease into the hustle and bustle of the daily culture.
Our American-Lebanese friends were right about one thing- the people here are terrific. We feel so welcomed and so comfortable. All the teachers and administrators are making sure we are comfortable. Everyone we meet on the street or otherwise is super friendly. And for those who are wondering, we feel very safe here and are constantly reassured that we are safe. These wonderful people are taking good care of us.
If anyone is interested in our mailing address of phone number, please send me an email at casey.yunits@gmail.com and I'll send it along.

The Wedding re-cap

The festivities began with a party at the Brockton Rox.  The rain held out long enough for Derek to throw the first pitch, which turned out to be the only pitch of the night.  The rain didn't get in the way of our party though, which continued back at the hotel later on. In fact the rain didn't get in the way of much- at least 3 people told me it was the best baseball game ever!

 

             

           

The pre-wedding wiffle ball game...

     

And of course, the wedding!

            

Thank you all for being a part of our wonderful weekend.

Honeymoon in Paris

After such a hectic summer it was quite nice to enjoy a few days of respite in the romantic city of Paris.  After roaming the streets all day we opted to spend our first night with a classy dinner of bread, cheese and veggies and a cheap bottle of French Wine.

The next day we ventured out towards the Seine River to explore the touristy sites. We strolled the famous halls of the Louvre, admired Notre Dame Cathedral, checked out Napolean's tomb and ended the day with a rest in the Eiffel Tower park.  

      

For dinner we tried out a traditional French Wine Bar. We were the only English speaking people in there which made ordering dinner interesting. I think we had the duck and the lamb- whatever it was, it was delicious!

              

The next day was the best. Derek had promised to take me out to a small village outside of Vernon called Giverny.  This was where Claude Monet lived and painted his famous garden pictures.  The gardens are so beautiful it's hard to put words to it. The lily pad pond, made by Monet, is picture perfect from all views.

            

Because we can't resist the beauty of nature, we spent our last day in the gardens at Versailles.