Thursday May 1st, what a hectic “Labour day”!
After very last-minute arrangements , last-minute must-do pre-travel shopping (as if shopping wasn’t ALWAYS a must), last-minute goodbyes to approximately two hundred friends and relatives, a rushed pedicure & manicure in between, a very tough packing process and an endless speech from dad on security precautions while travelling in the Middle East, I was ready AT LAST to jump in the plane…exhausted but sooooooooooo excited!
The flight was one of the most pleasant I ever had. A little mistake in the seat number while boarding got me a welcome drink and an invitation to visit the pilot cabin, an invitation that I got extended to the whole flight (nothing being nice can't get you!), spending it with 2 incredibly smart pilots, with whom I had a great time discussing, among others, the everlasting Arab-Israeli conflict, the US invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan (and the Syria/Iran eventual invasion plans), the Moroccan Western Sahara conflict and the many other political issues of the region.
After about 4 hours of what is commonly referred to in pilots’ jargon as “blue-flying” (ie. exclusively over the Mediterranean Sea), a warm voice from Beirut airport control tower welcomed us with an unexpected “Marhaba Habib Albi” (Welcome sweet hearts), which is, as I was told later, a very common way of speaking even to strangers in Lebanon.
Coming from a country influenced by Berber culture of self-restraint, the pilots and I couldn’t help but laugh at this exuberant welcome and mellifluous tone when one of them suddenly pointed the horizon with his finger...
There She was.
Poet Nizar Qabbani’s Lady of the World, the Pearl of the Middle East, the Paris of the Levant, flanked by snow-capped Mountains of Lebanon and generously opening her arms to the Mediterranean Sea and to the thousands of visitors she has welcomed over its 5000 years of existence, shaping its history and enriching its culture.
The flight was one of the most pleasant I ever had. A little mistake in the seat number while boarding got me a welcome drink and an invitation to visit the pilot cabin, an invitation that I got extended to the whole flight (nothing being nice can't get you!), spending it with 2 incredibly smart pilots, with whom I had a great time discussing, among others, the everlasting Arab-Israeli conflict, the US invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan (and the Syria/Iran eventual invasion plans), the Moroccan Western Sahara conflict and the many other political issues of the region.
After about 4 hours of what is commonly referred to in pilots’ jargon as “blue-flying” (ie. exclusively over the Mediterranean Sea), a warm voice from Beirut airport control tower welcomed us with an unexpected “Marhaba Habib Albi” (Welcome sweet hearts), which is, as I was told later, a very common way of speaking even to strangers in Lebanon.
Coming from a country influenced by Berber culture of self-restraint, the pilots and I couldn’t help but laugh at this exuberant welcome and mellifluous tone when one of them suddenly pointed the horizon with his finger...
There She was.
Poet Nizar Qabbani’s Lady of the World, the Pearl of the Middle East, the Paris of the Levant, flanked by snow-capped Mountains of Lebanon and generously opening her arms to the Mediterranean Sea and to the thousands of visitors she has welcomed over its 5000 years of existence, shaping its history and enriching its culture.
Beirut…
Founded by the Phoenicians, original inhabitants of Lebanon, who named it “Bérût” (the Wells) and part of numerous succeeding empires - Persian, Assyrian, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Arab and Ottoman - Beirut, in the manner of Lebanon, is an incredible mosaic of people, cultures, religions, and traditions, and a living testimonial of centuries of bustling History.
Beirut…here I am!
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