Beirut

I recently had a break from school and had the opportunity to do some traveling in the region. My first stop was Beirut. Beirut is a lovely city and very un-Middle Eastern. I would describe it as a mixture of western Europe and Miami. They've done an impressive job of re-building the city after the civil war, but there are still signs of the war- some of them left intentionally so that the people won't forget what happened.

I spent most of my time walking around the city and eating at great restaurants. The city is fairly easy to get around by foot, with the exception of the fact that they don't have street signs. Beirut drivers are also quite frightening. The city has created the illusion of being pedestrian friendly with sidewalks and walk signs (unlike Amman). I learned fairly quickly that red lights mean nothing to drivers in Beirut. Not just the occasional running as the light changes; the light could have been red for a minute and people will still run it. Needless to say, I had some near-death experiences until I figured this out. I would very much prefer that they remove the walk signs so that pedestrians know that they never have the right-of-way.

Beirut lies on the Mediterranean Sea and has a beautiful pederstrian promanade. Walking along the promonade is a great way to see a wide cross-section of Beirut society. Lebanese women showing off their newly purchased breasts, men laying out on the rocks along the coast, college students, and traditional Muslim families. Beirut was not a good place for me to practice my Arabic. I heard more English and French than Arabic while I was there.