May!

I can't remember if I posted yet in May. May went by so fast here. It is unbelievable. We are officially on the countdown to summer. We have 5 weeks left of our first year. It is amazing. I am ready to get started since we have such an perfect summer planned and next year our trips are going to be better than ever!

First, I have one more thing to add to my missing list. THE LIBRARY! I know it is nerdy and surprising because it sure surprised me, but I miss free books. I miss a place to go and browse the shelves for free! I have only been able to buy books since we have been here and I don't wanna do it anymore! I know there are libraries on campus but I want a big free library with adult, non-educational fiction! I want to read some crappy Chick-Lit for free, not for the 2.99 single kindle price. Crappy chick-lit for free is justifiable but crappy Chick-Lit for 2.99 or more is unacceptable!! I get my t.v. and movies for free, now I want my books! Due to my extensive library fines in both Portland and Virignia, I probably am not even allowed to check out books but I am sure gonna try!

On to the important stuff. It was Michael's birthday weekend and although we did not do anything wild and crazy, afterall he was only turning 29, =), we had a nice time!
It started on Thursday night out in the more hipster part of town Gemmayze.  We really like it there and it is about a 10 minute, with no traffic, cab ride from where we live!  So, we went there for happy hour and got introduced to a bar that has several varities of Arak from different parts of Lebanon. Arak is a liquor and when mixed with water, it turns white. It tastes like black licorce and I do NOT like it. The bartender even mixed it with blackberries for me but it still tastes like medicine. So, I had a fresh watermelon martini and it was amazing!  Michael and Tyson, however, sampled a few Araks and loved it!  Pictures are below



Then on Friday night we had a Foreign Hire BBQ at the President of our schools house. It was started out as a lovely evening with drinks and good conversations, however it ended not so well for me! I met up with my old enemy beef! Let me give you a little background. Sometimes, when I eat beef too quickly or in too big of bites, it gets caught in my throat and I can't shallow. Super weird, I know! Usaully, it passes with a small sip or two of water and maybe worse case the hiccups! But, occassionally there is a night where it does not pass so easily, it has only happened to me 3 times in my life. All, of course, in public places. Once, on a date in college, once at a bar in Portland and all through the neighborhood, and now at a Foreign Hire BBQ in Lebanon.  Awesome!!!  We had just sat down to dinner at a table of 6 and the beef struck!  Thankfully, the table had just been complaining about how dark it was and hard to see their food, but I still proceeded to throw/spit up at the table, not once, twice, but three times before I got away.  It was humiliating. I excused myself to the bathroom, started to cry and was too embarassed to return to the table. HAPPY BIRTHDAY  MICHAEL. Thankfully, he took me home, then went back to the party said my apologies and got to play soccer after dinner. All ends well. And I was completely fine an hour later! I also proceeded at 30 years old to call my Mom and cry to her about it!

Michael's second birthday dinner!

Another Beach Club

Arak!

My Watermelon Martini!

On Saturday, we went to Michael's first Beirut beach club. This is quite an experience and the thing to do in the summer months.  Almost every Friday or Monday, I get asked if I am going to the beach or if I went. If the answer is no, a very quizzical look and a lot of sympathy follows, because it is immediately assumed that if you weren't at the beach or were either sick or incapacitated in some horrible way. However, the truth is the beach clubs are an expensive adventure. They range in price and quality. There are 5 that we can walk to that range in price from $20 to $35 to get in and then there are the drinks,  you can't not have a drink, and then food.  It becomes a pricey day. However, the people watching is well worth the price of admission. The best made of up of Beirut show up. There was a lot of work spent on getting ready to go the beach clubs, and people stay all day. They supposedly at night become quite a crazy party. But, it is incredibly relaxing and fun.  The beach club hires a dj for the day and there are constant waiters at your beckon call.  I think Michael and I were the only people there using sunscreen and not baby oil.  I really, really enjoy the days we get to go but it is definitely costly. However, it costs less than the 10 boob jobs, 20 nose jobs, and 100 gym memberships or steroid injections that everyone else spent to go.
We then went out to dinner again in Gemmayze to an Argentinain restaurant and had a rooftop meal and then back to the Arak place. It was excellent.

The Saturday beach club! The sea is just beyond that bar. You had to make reservations to sit by the sea. Who knew!

This is a random picture but these are the smallest necatrines ever..Lebanon doesn't believe in adult sized fruit!

Do we like more world-traveled and a year older? BECAUSE WE ARE!

I still can't believe in less than 30 days, I will be able to say that I lived a year in the Middle East! Who does that!?!  I am not sure how I will feel about returning next year and doing it all again, but I am optimistic, especially with a bunch of cool trips on the horizon. I know I will never ever regret this decision. Although it has slightly delayed by baby plans..=) Michael and I are a stronger and better couple now and I just feel more aware. I came to this country assuming to find a sandy, conservative, slightly hostile, environment and have found some of that not to be true. Yes, this place has a huge list of deficits, but it also is so full of life and charm. We sat a beach club yesterday, where we had a swim up bar and the ocean in front of us, and war torn, broken down buildings behind us. It is hard to describe. I know I don't want to spend my life here or even more than 2 years, but these 2 years will always be a positive and important part of who I am!