Beirut is a city that is always in transition. Even though I hadn’t been gone for a full year, on my latest trip, I already noticed a number of differences. Some of my regular hangouts had shuttered their windows and closed up shop. In fact the whole nightlife part of town had shifted about a mile down the road.  Bars and restaurants that had been packed last summer were now lucky to have two or three tables occupied.

I also had expat friends who had since moved on and even my favorite old neighborhood dog was no longer in his usual spot (I couldn’t bring myself to ask the owners where he’d gone to, fearing the answer may have been “the big dog park in the sky”).  Most of these changes made me feel a little nostalgic for the way things used to be (oh so many…months ago).

But there was one change I could definitely get behind. They finally enacted a ban on smoking indoor! Hallelujah! When I was in Beirut last summer, I saw signs and advertisements saying that smoking indoors would be coming to an end this past September, but I wasn’t sure I really believed it. As much as I hated coming home after a night out reeking of cigarette smoke, I had kind of gotten used to it.  Hanging my clothes outside after a night out had become as routine as brushing my teeth before bed.  Of course, there were also the pesky dangers of second hand smoke to deal with.  Sadly, my lungs couldn’t air out as easily as my L.B.D.

A sign of things to come

But by the time I got back this year, the change was in fact in affect. No more smoking at the bar or in a  cafe.  Of course, this being Beirut, (the land of a thousand rule breakers), some bars still overlooked this rule, but for the most part, it was respected.

Tried to get a good pic of this guy smoking directly under then No Smoking sign.

Now that most established bars kept their inside area smoke free, and since most of the “going out” crowd in Beirut knows their way around a package of cigarettes, it means often there are more people infront of the bar rather than inside. It makes for a very festive evening even if you were just strolling along for an evening walk.

While I do not smoke, the friend who I was visiting does. At one point I joined her outside so we could continue talking while she lit up.  One thing I had to laugh about was that suddenly any car that happened to be parked near a bar was suddenly transformed into a table.  I cannot imagine most American’s being happy that 4 or 5 people have started using their car to rest their beer mugs and martini glasses on (no coasters of course).  But in Beirut, it was just accepted. At one point our “table’s” owner had to drive off, so they politely smiled at us, we politely removed our drinks and held them until the next “table” pulled up.  They get a parking space close to the action; we got a place to rest our drinks.  Happy all around!

In Beirut, a good parking space means your car becomes a table.

While there are still plenty of things for Beirut to improve upon (tire burning, treatment of domestic workers, driving skills or lack there of), they have taken one big leap in the right direction. Next battle: 24 hour electricty availability. One can only dream!