Even though we were back to school after Spring Break for my birthday, I had a really fantastic week! It ended up being much more exciting than anticipated, mostly thanks to Michael and my friend Andree. Of course, everyone I know here and back home made it special but Andree ended up having a friend in town and I tagged along on their adventures.
On the Wednesday before my birthday. I went with Andree on a Rocche Rock boat trip. There are two giant rocks off the coast near our house and you can take a very small boat and drive through them. The whole thing lasted about 5 minutes, I think we got the American trip instead of the local trip. I was unsure if the boat would stay afloat and the man kept encouraging us to move around our body weight, I ended up the only one on one side of the boat between the 4 of us and I tried not to take it personally..=) I am sure he just felt that I was more stable than the other girls..
Here is a picture of our boat that a 13 year old walked us to. As we walked down to the boat, several locals hanging out on the Corniche were quite proud of the 13 year old for wrangling up a couple of American women. One man was kind enough to tell me he loved me! We walked down a "cliff" that is a bit of an extreme word but I don't know a better one right now, I guess a hill but that doesn't really do it justice either, that had no steps just a slight trail to find our boat. It was an adventure all by itself.
The water felt warm and was so blue, we went inside one small tunnel/cave and then through the rocks. Here is a view from the boat.
After the boat trip we went to Zeituny Bay, I think I misspelled it but it means olive in Arabic for a drink. It was beautiful there and I am going to push Michael to spend more time there. It is a boat dock for really expensive boats, as well as a strip of fancy restaurants and shops. It also has a pool in the summer. A few of the restaurants are affordable enough for us and we can just go for drinks and to be in a quieter spot.
Then we were off to our Lebanese 101 cooking class. We went to a place called Tawla (again I think) It was featured on Anthony Bourdains visit to Beirut. Everyday they have a different woman come and she creates a buffet for lunch. It is only open for about 4 hours everyday. They have 26 women chefs in all that take turns. So, you eat that day whatever she has prepared. It is pricey but a very nice space. So, we took a cooking class from one of the rotating chefs. We made Tabbouleh (which is a type of salad) everything has to be chopped very finely and it takes a lot of time. It is not my favorite dish here in Lebanon but was quite good this time. Then we made hummus and kebbe in laban. Kebbe is something I think Michael has blogged about and finally found the answer to but this Kebbe is a football shaped meat-filled treat. The outside (the football) is meat and some other ingredients and then you sautee meat and onions and spices and stuff it inside then bake them and then put in Laban. (Laban is a yogurt based food).
Everything was so delicious and the class was really fun. How much of it I re-create at home will be a different question.
On my actual birthday, I had to go to a guest speaker allllll day! But then I got to go to a delicious Armenian dinner with Michael at a new place we had not tried yet. Armenian food is a lot like Lebanese but spicier. We ate Chee Kufta/Kibbeh Nayyeh-which is a raw meat dish, a lot like steak tartar. Then we had spicy fried potatoes, and quail eggs with meat on toast. We had a couple other dishes but those didn't make the picture. Everything was amazing!! Mom, I can see you scrunching up your face as you read this.
Then the Friday after my birthday again with Andree, I went on my first mini-bus experience. Which ended up much better than expected. There is no public transportation in Beirut, so there are vans you can read in for about a dollar that stop and pick up and drop off people along the way. I think they go anywhere. So, we got on one and rode to Jabiel/Byblos which is an amazing coastal town. As we rode along, we picked up 4 guys from the military and 2 other random men. The bus had seats for 8 or 9 but I think would have taken more if there were people waiting. Andree can speak really good Arabic and French, so she had a good time talking and translating for all of us. It was quite an experience. I am always very aware of how little I know in Arabic when I am in a situation with fluent, non-english speakers of Arabic. I get very few words. Thankfully, Arabic classes started up again this week.
Finally, on Saturday we had a building and friends BBQ on our rooftop and it was perfect. The weather was a little cool but it is going to be so hot soon we are enjoying it while we can. So, it was a great simple evening with good people. I really appreciate everyone being so sweet to me in a new place on the big 30. I am totally fine with turning 30, I actually feel like I have a lot to be proud of and have accomplished quite a bit and probably more than some people thought I would in my 30 years. I was just having a hard time reaching a milestone with the people I know best and longest. But, my friends here really rallied around me and made my 30th birthday perfect. I am so grateful for my Fadllalah second family! Here are some pictures from the BBQ..
On the Wednesday before my birthday. I went with Andree on a Rocche Rock boat trip. There are two giant rocks off the coast near our house and you can take a very small boat and drive through them. The whole thing lasted about 5 minutes, I think we got the American trip instead of the local trip. I was unsure if the boat would stay afloat and the man kept encouraging us to move around our body weight, I ended up the only one on one side of the boat between the 4 of us and I tried not to take it personally..=) I am sure he just felt that I was more stable than the other girls..
Here is a picture of our boat that a 13 year old walked us to. As we walked down to the boat, several locals hanging out on the Corniche were quite proud of the 13 year old for wrangling up a couple of American women. One man was kind enough to tell me he loved me! We walked down a "cliff" that is a bit of an extreme word but I don't know a better one right now, I guess a hill but that doesn't really do it justice either, that had no steps just a slight trail to find our boat. It was an adventure all by itself.
Then we were off to our Lebanese 101 cooking class. We went to a place called Tawla (again I think) It was featured on Anthony Bourdains visit to Beirut. Everyday they have a different woman come and she creates a buffet for lunch. It is only open for about 4 hours everyday. They have 26 women chefs in all that take turns. So, you eat that day whatever she has prepared. It is pricey but a very nice space. So, we took a cooking class from one of the rotating chefs. We made Tabbouleh (which is a type of salad) everything has to be chopped very finely and it takes a lot of time. It is not my favorite dish here in Lebanon but was quite good this time. Then we made hummus and kebbe in laban. Kebbe is something I think Michael has blogged about and finally found the answer to but this Kebbe is a football shaped meat-filled treat. The outside (the football) is meat and some other ingredients and then you sautee meat and onions and spices and stuff it inside then bake them and then put in Laban. (Laban is a yogurt based food).
Everything was so delicious and the class was really fun. How much of it I re-create at home will be a different question.
On my actual birthday, I had to go to a guest speaker allllll day! But then I got to go to a delicious Armenian dinner with Michael at a new place we had not tried yet. Armenian food is a lot like Lebanese but spicier. We ate Chee Kufta/Kibbeh Nayyeh-which is a raw meat dish, a lot like steak tartar. Then we had spicy fried potatoes, and quail eggs with meat on toast. We had a couple other dishes but those didn't make the picture. Everything was amazing!! Mom, I can see you scrunching up your face as you read this.
Then the Friday after my birthday again with Andree, I went on my first mini-bus experience. Which ended up much better than expected. There is no public transportation in Beirut, so there are vans you can read in for about a dollar that stop and pick up and drop off people along the way. I think they go anywhere. So, we got on one and rode to Jabiel/Byblos which is an amazing coastal town. As we rode along, we picked up 4 guys from the military and 2 other random men. The bus had seats for 8 or 9 but I think would have taken more if there were people waiting. Andree can speak really good Arabic and French, so she had a good time talking and translating for all of us. It was quite an experience. I am always very aware of how little I know in Arabic when I am in a situation with fluent, non-english speakers of Arabic. I get very few words. Thankfully, Arabic classes started up again this week.
My building friends 
No comments:
Post a Comment