I arrived on Saturday, but there was no rest for the weary. After getting picked up from the airport by my good friend Quebrado (complete with a welcome balloon) and his father we made a quick stop by their family’s flower shop, then headed back to their lovely apartment about 15 minutes north of central Beirut. After getting settled in and some dinner with the family, we were off to a Saturday night party “in the jungle”. Actually, it was a party at a camp grounds overlooking the sea. I’m not sure what we were celebrating exactly, but there was a live DJ, drumming circle and dancing of course. I got to meet a lot of Q’s friends from Capoeira who were all very nice and welcoming to this jet-lagged foreigner. With the help of a couple of Red Bulls (w/ a splash of vodka) I managed to hang in there until 4:00 am. After driving some friends to their car, Quebrado and I stopped for a delicious, calorie-ladened breakfast of Kenefe Jebene. Not 100% sure what it is, but some sort of cheese baked in a huge pan with sweet syrup poured over it. It is shoveled into a bun and voila…sweet, yummy breakfast.

Got home around 5:30, slept until 12:30 (much better than Jen and I did in Dubai last year) then off for a perfect Sunday afternoon at Basma’s home. Basma is one of Quebrado’s friends from capoeira and she lives with her family at an apartment in central Beirut. Her capoeira nickname is Alegria (“Joy”) which fits her perfectly. There’s a lovely pool on her building’s roof that we basically had to ourselves. Lounging in the sun, snacking on fresh fruit and pretzels, playing the berimbau and taking pictures – perfect way to recover from the trip and meet some new friends.

One cool thing I learned today is what this is:

These are fresh, straight from the branch almonds. Never would have guessed that. You have to break them in half at the seam with your teeth, pull out the seed in the middle, clean off the outer part of the seed and then eat the raw nut inside. I realize I’ve only ever seen processed almonds. Such a limited life I lead!

After a dessert of Basma’s famous home made cheesecake, we headed back to Q’s place for a shower and to relax a bit, then back to downtown Beirut with his mom for a stroll and a light dinner. We visited the grave sight of Rafiq Hariri, the former primer minister of Lebanon who was assassinated by a bomb in 2005. He was well loved and respected by his countrymen and many people come through to visit his resting place. However I did also learn from Quebrado, who’s family is from Armenia, that Armenians were not big supporters of Hariri and its policies.

The downtown area where we at dinner definitely has a more European feel to it. Lots of cafes that empty onto the street, and pedestrian areas where families play and armed soldiers keep watch. The weather in the evening is quite nice for strolling and eating outside which we took advantage of. We had a delicious meal at Al-Balad (sadly, the food at Gaby’s will never be the same). The only complaint I had was the little mosquitoes nipping at my ankles during dinner which I tried to shoo away with smoke from the nargileh but other than that it was a fun, relaxing night.