Home...It Takes a While to Get There: Mt. Lebanon Hashing

This post refers to Sunday's excursion to Mt. Lebanon with the Hashers. A fellow in our building is the organizer, so we rode with him in his girlfriend's car. We were about fifteen minutes into the drive--which means we had traveled a few blocks in Beirut--before he realized he had forgotten a) to remind another tenant to come and b) that he needed to pick up this other guy, a Brit. Still, we managed to barrel down the streets, mimicking every other driver, before arriving only a few minutes late.

We met the thirty or so other Hashers, paid a few dollars, and were asked if we had a Hasher name. Later we would celebrate the birthday of "Open Wide". Yes, just as you suspected, he's...a dentist.

We gathered around a circle, were told this was Hasher run #420, and ventured off for a two hour hike. A few ran, but most of us walked down through valleys and searched for the lentils that would guide us, sort of Hansel and Gretel-like, onwards. The previous night's rain enabled a more liberal trekking experience, as it seemed to us "Hasher virgins" that they were making it up as we went along.

Still, you can't argue with views like that on the left...

...or stumbling upon a sign

that warned us of mines. That was unexpected.

Luckily, I think we determined where exactly those mines were.

Part of our excursion led us to a scheduled "fruit stop", which meant grape vineyards that seemed abandoned, as well as an animal shelter. Animals that were abused--mostly dogs--found themselves seemingly in the middle of nowhere. We made a brief stop there and ended up donating about 350,000 Lebanese Pounds--close to $250. Their echoes could be heard from quite a distance.

The walk ended eventually, and we gathered in a circle once again with more than enough beer to go around. Several announcements took place, but most of them were "punishments" to drink. They would hand us a cup of beer, sing a song, then with our left hand drink its contents, placing the empty cup on our head to prove that it was empty. Some of the reasons: being late; forgetting one 's"Hasher hat"; peeing on the trail; and, of course, being a Hasher virgin.

Afterward, most of us went to a local restaurant overlooking Beirut and had a fantastic feast.