I had a lot of firsts last week in Lebanon and most of them turned out great.
I went on Friday night to a dance club with a co-worker. We got a half hour Salsa lesson and then a band came on and continued to play Salsa music. I really enjoy dancing usually but I have found that I do not enjoy being in close dancing proximity to strangers. I am unable to be comfortable making eye contact with a stranger who is practically nose to nose with me. Thus, making it very challenging for me to be a good dancer. I am also not good at following and letting the guy take the lead, shocker there..I know! So, I will take the knowledge of not liking to dance with strangers touching me into my future and check off the box on my list of things to do for know yourself better..=)
I also danced in the lesson with a young guy who just kept insisting on telling me that he is "just a really good dancer." I don't know anything else about him, except that he is a really good dancer. Do not think when you read this that maybe there was a language barrier and that was all the English he knew. He knew lots of English words about himself, hence "I am a very good dancer and a dentist." We strangely enough did not reunite on the dance floor after the lesson. So, the number 2 thing I learned this week. I do not enjoy really good Lebanese dancers.
If I keep on at this pace of knowing myself in 2 years I will be the most self-aware person in the world!
I also decided to try the world of maintence here in Lebanon. By maintance I mean I needed my eyebrows waxed or I was hoping to get them waxed. I had asked several of the girls in my building where they went for personal grooming and since all the names are Arabic my brain refuses to accept or memorize them, so I often venture off in the general direction someone pointed me and hope for the best.
Anyways, lucky enough for me there is a beauty salon two buildings away from our apartment, so I was able to avoid getting lost..=) I walk by there every day and there is often a group of employees just sitting on the stairs and they all watch you when you get a haircut. It is a very unusaul experience and makes me again for uncomfortable...haha. But, I had to go to this place because, of course, I could not remember the name of anywhere else to go. Stupid Brain!...So, I walk in and in offensively slow ( i am trying not to be one of those people who thinks talking louder to someone who speaks a different language makes a difference so in turn I talk really slowly and take lots of long pauses, intermixed with lots of confused faces..works super well.) and ask to get my eyebrows done. A nice lady offers to help me and I spend the whole walk trying to tell her I just want an eyebrow wax. I am asking her general questions and she just keeps nodding along.
I have to preface this by saying I am asking lots of questions because some of the people here in Lebanon do not believe in eyebrows consisting of hair. They much prefer it to be hairless but filled in with make-up. I do not believe in this and I wanted to make that abundently clear to my new friend.
Long story short, I still have eyebrows but I did experience threading for the first time, along with the most plucking any human has ever had to endure. I spent what felt like an eternity, wincing and cringing and wiping tears from my eyes. I am sure the lady thought I was one tough cookie. I personally find plucking to be one of the worst and most annoying thing ever! Its like being pinched 100 times. It takes all my self-control not to swing a right hook on whoever is closet. Thankfully, there are no laws in Lebanon so if by accident I hit my new eyebrow friend, she can do nothing about it.
The couple across the hall from Michael and I are awesome. The wife is from Thailand and she makes amazing Thai food. I subtly hinted to her that I love Thai food and now whenever she makes extra she brings Michael and I a plate to share. It is freaking fantastic. Although, it is some of the spiciest food I have ever eaten. Last weekend she invited a bunch of us over to have a Thai cooking class. We made fried chicken with mango salads and it was all super delicious. Now, everytime our doorbell rings I am very wishful it is her with more food.
Mango chicken salad!
This week we also started the process for getting our work permits. Without them we can not leave the country. So, you have to go about a half an hour away, depending the worlds worst traffic to general security. The school has a driver that gives you a ride. There are a lot of them so it is always a surprise who you will get. Moving on, we get to general security and a guy who now works for our school, calls you from the curb to get out of the car in the middle of traffic and follow him. Next time I will know that follow him means run as fast as you can because he is not waiting. We walk through metal detectors into a room that is the DMV but without any rules or regulations. I know the DMV can take forever and super suck, but imagine a DMV with no lines or ticket numbers or order ( i think i have mentioned it before, but Lebanon literally does not believe in lines, anywhere). You just push as hard as you can to get to the desk you need to go to. Then you go upstairs (two at a time) to another set of desks that you push your way to. Then you finally go to another room where you wait in a tangled mess outside of until you can push your way through. Thankfully, the guy who was with me knows everyone who works there so we skip all lines and go to different desks.
Good news is I will get my permit in a week Lebanese time..so 3 weeks American time and I will be ready for Barcelona and Paris!!
Finally,
If you have made it this far. I have attached a few photos. I feel like all the pictures Michael and I post of our things and not us and since I know you all love to see us. Here you go!
Me after walking in the pouring rain to one of favorite places Dar. Our friend Nadia's cousin owns it and we met her this night. She was probably really jealous of my hair!
Me working..aka...looking at people.com
Michael working...writing and responding to parent emails ...
I went on Friday night to a dance club with a co-worker. We got a half hour Salsa lesson and then a band came on and continued to play Salsa music. I really enjoy dancing usually but I have found that I do not enjoy being in close dancing proximity to strangers. I am unable to be comfortable making eye contact with a stranger who is practically nose to nose with me. Thus, making it very challenging for me to be a good dancer. I am also not good at following and letting the guy take the lead, shocker there..I know! So, I will take the knowledge of not liking to dance with strangers touching me into my future and check off the box on my list of things to do for know yourself better..=)
I also danced in the lesson with a young guy who just kept insisting on telling me that he is "just a really good dancer." I don't know anything else about him, except that he is a really good dancer. Do not think when you read this that maybe there was a language barrier and that was all the English he knew. He knew lots of English words about himself, hence "I am a very good dancer and a dentist." We strangely enough did not reunite on the dance floor after the lesson. So, the number 2 thing I learned this week. I do not enjoy really good Lebanese dancers.
If I keep on at this pace of knowing myself in 2 years I will be the most self-aware person in the world!
I also decided to try the world of maintence here in Lebanon. By maintance I mean I needed my eyebrows waxed or I was hoping to get them waxed. I had asked several of the girls in my building where they went for personal grooming and since all the names are Arabic my brain refuses to accept or memorize them, so I often venture off in the general direction someone pointed me and hope for the best.
Anyways, lucky enough for me there is a beauty salon two buildings away from our apartment, so I was able to avoid getting lost..=) I walk by there every day and there is often a group of employees just sitting on the stairs and they all watch you when you get a haircut. It is a very unusaul experience and makes me again for uncomfortable...haha. But, I had to go to this place because, of course, I could not remember the name of anywhere else to go. Stupid Brain!...So, I walk in and in offensively slow ( i am trying not to be one of those people who thinks talking louder to someone who speaks a different language makes a difference so in turn I talk really slowly and take lots of long pauses, intermixed with lots of confused faces..works super well.) and ask to get my eyebrows done. A nice lady offers to help me and I spend the whole walk trying to tell her I just want an eyebrow wax. I am asking her general questions and she just keeps nodding along.
I have to preface this by saying I am asking lots of questions because some of the people here in Lebanon do not believe in eyebrows consisting of hair. They much prefer it to be hairless but filled in with make-up. I do not believe in this and I wanted to make that abundently clear to my new friend.
Long story short, I still have eyebrows but I did experience threading for the first time, along with the most plucking any human has ever had to endure. I spent what felt like an eternity, wincing and cringing and wiping tears from my eyes. I am sure the lady thought I was one tough cookie. I personally find plucking to be one of the worst and most annoying thing ever! Its like being pinched 100 times. It takes all my self-control not to swing a right hook on whoever is closet. Thankfully, there are no laws in Lebanon so if by accident I hit my new eyebrow friend, she can do nothing about it.
The couple across the hall from Michael and I are awesome. The wife is from Thailand and she makes amazing Thai food. I subtly hinted to her that I love Thai food and now whenever she makes extra she brings Michael and I a plate to share. It is freaking fantastic. Although, it is some of the spiciest food I have ever eaten. Last weekend she invited a bunch of us over to have a Thai cooking class. We made fried chicken with mango salads and it was all super delicious. Now, everytime our doorbell rings I am very wishful it is her with more food.
This week we also started the process for getting our work permits. Without them we can not leave the country. So, you have to go about a half an hour away, depending the worlds worst traffic to general security. The school has a driver that gives you a ride. There are a lot of them so it is always a surprise who you will get. Moving on, we get to general security and a guy who now works for our school, calls you from the curb to get out of the car in the middle of traffic and follow him. Next time I will know that follow him means run as fast as you can because he is not waiting. We walk through metal detectors into a room that is the DMV but without any rules or regulations. I know the DMV can take forever and super suck, but imagine a DMV with no lines or ticket numbers or order ( i think i have mentioned it before, but Lebanon literally does not believe in lines, anywhere). You just push as hard as you can to get to the desk you need to go to. Then you go upstairs (two at a time) to another set of desks that you push your way to. Then you finally go to another room where you wait in a tangled mess outside of until you can push your way through. Thankfully, the guy who was with me knows everyone who works there so we skip all lines and go to different desks.
Good news is I will get my permit in a week Lebanese time..so 3 weeks American time and I will be ready for Barcelona and Paris!!
Finally,
If you have made it this far. I have attached a few photos. I feel like all the pictures Michael and I post of our things and not us and since I know you all love to see us. Here you go!
Haha . . . I love "We're getting our permits in one week Lebanese time, so three weeks American time."
ReplyDeleteAnd don't worry about the wincing and crying with the threading. I do it all the time so they're probably used to it!