The Lebanon Chronicle

2006-09-27T12:02:00.000-07:00

I love Beirut
I love Beirut … I am wholly and totally in love with this beautiful city …
It is a city that is beautiful in every way.
I love Beirut for its contradictions and its unity,
its simplicity and its glamour,
its noise and its quiet sunrise …

I love Beirut,
and I am sure that anyone who visits this city will feel the same …
You can never pinpoint what it is exactly that makes this city special …
is it its people? its streets? its sea? its loud nights?
You can never tell …
But what no one can ever deny is that there is a certain overwhelming feeling that this city has on its visitors that you never feel elsewhere …

I love the sunset in Beirut,
watching the sun dip into the sea at Raouche is a true experience …
I also love the sunrise in Beirut,
watching the sun rise over the city as we are heading back home from yet another loud night out …
I love the rain in Beirut,
one can almost swear it seeps into your soul and washes you clean …

Beirut is utterly amazing …
many, including myself, argue that it is the city’s beauty that has caused it so much suffering …
and as the famous song by Majida el-Roumi eloquently put it:

Beirut, the Mistress of the World
We confess before the One God
That we were envious of you
That your beauty hurt us
We confess now

Beirut, the Mistress of the World
We confess before the One God
That we were envious of you
That your beauty hurt us
We confess now
That we've maltreated and misunderstood you
And we had no mercy and didn't excuse you
And we offered you a dagger in place of flowers!
We confess before the fair God
That we injured you, alas; we tired you
That we vexed you and made you cry
And we burdened you with our insurrections
O Beirut
The world without you won't suffice us
We now realize your roots are deep inside us,
We now realize what offence we've perpetrated
Rise from under the rubble
Like a flower of Almond in April
Get over your sorrow
Since revolution grows in the wounds of grief
Rise in honor of the forests,
Rise in honor of the rivers
Rise in honor of humankind
Rise, O Beirut!
Whenever I say repentance, destinies give up on me
I miss his black eyes and melt of longing.
He is away and the nights never leave me alone;
And I lost the eyelash which used to hurt me; why should I care?
O eyelashes that kill and hurt
O eyes that sleep and wander
I would give u my whole life if you would give me happiness.
Songs withered in the green heart
And as long as you are away, it can't drink from another sea.

By: Alia Bader

2006-09-05T13:22:00.000-07:00

On the corner of 23rd and 2nd Ave. New York, NY., 08/06

2006-09-04T07:44:00.000-07:00

Glamcult Magazine
www.glamcult.com
Please see Tanya Traboulsi's article inside "Last Days of Beirut"

2006-08-21T17:53:00.000-07:00

•Please find the time to answer the following question:
(This is a really open exercise and we really encourage you to take it in the direction that you feel comfortable with. Please also feel free to answer the question in any medium or manner that you wish (i.e. text, image, sound etc.)

WHY DO YOU LOVE BEIRUT?

Note* for those who would rather write about Lebanon itself or a different city or town or village in Lebanon please do so.

We really believe that our testimonies of love for Beirut/Lebanon will be a wonderful way to express our thoughts on what is happening, and let's face it talk of love is generally well received. It may also be a wonderful exercise for us to remain strong united and sane. Please take time and write a few sentences for us or send us your creations we have wonderful plans for all of your thoughts and really think it's a great follow-up to the stickers.

•••••Please Email us your statements at thelebanonchronicle@gmail.com, or post your comments and we will publish them

2006-08-21T17:46:00.000-07:00

Anonymous:

I love Beirut .

I love Beirut for its opposites.
I love Beirut because I see a girl in a Mini skirt and her sister in a Tchador.
I love Beirut because it is neither West nor East it is both.
I love Beirut because one can party till 6 in the morning and not realize that it is Wednesday morning.
I love Beirut because Beirut is live as if they are going to die tomorrow and party as if they are going to live forever.
I love Beirut because I can be swimming in the morning and 30 minutes later I'm on the slopes skiing or doing after ski.
I love Beirut because I have never seen the sun this strong anywhere in the world.
I love Beirut because I can see 6,000 years of history & civilization.
I love Beirut because Christians and Muslims are living an understanding and do not need to have Christian Muslim understanding
classes.
I love Beirut because every Beiruti has a political opinion and will share it with you even if you could care less about his and
you want to share yours with him.
I love Beirut for all the conspiracy theories and how people actually believe them.
I love Beirut because any night I can find a friend to go out with.
I love Beirut because I do not need to call my friends to go and see them at their houses I just stop by.
I love Beirut because as soon as I arrive at one of my friends houses his mom takes me to the kitchen & becomes the
spokesperson of the refrigerator.
I love Beirut because one can smell gardenia, and jasmine.
I love Beirut because strawberries taste like strawberries & fruits taste like fruits.
I love Beirut because the food is so good that one gains so many pounds even if he/she tries to loose .
I love Beirut because although the Lebanese women at times look alike as some did their surgeries at the same plastic surgeon they
are the most elegant women I have ever seen.
I love Beirut because when I go out at night I don't know at which women to look at as each one is gorgeous in her own way.
I love Beirut because everyone knows me by name.
I love Beirut because I don't have to explain myself.
I love Beirut because of the traffic jams and the people you meet because of them.
I love Beirut because of the noise pollution from cars honking.
I love Beirut for the spirituality of the people wether Muslim or Christian.
I love Beirut because I'm the first to call my Christian friends on Christmas and my Muslim friends on Ramadan and vice versa.
I love Beirut because on May 1st I see Muslims visiting Harissa (Virgin Mary) just like I see Christians.
I love Beirut because we can differentiate between civilians and Militants.
I love Beirut because we respect all divine religions including Judaism. I love Beirut
because on the 22nd of every month I see Muslims going to St.Charbel church and believing that a miracle will happen.
I love Beirut because women look like as if they are out of a Vogue magazine.
I love Beirut because you eat to live and live to eat.
I love Beirut because one leaves one cafe to go to another and one does this all day.
I love Beirut because all the Lebanese living outside want to come back and the Lebanese who are in Lebanon envy the ones who are
living abroad not realizing what it means to live away from Beirut.
I love Beirut because a girl or a guy can easily tell you I just had a couple of Lexo or Xanax as if they just had a chewing gum.

I love Beirut because for every Lebanese we have a singer.
I love Beirut because the Lebanese star singers sing in nightclubs.
I love Beirut because women go into the swimming pool with full make up.
I love Beirut because guys go in with their cigars.
I love Beirut because it has been destroyed 7 times in History and has risen.
I love Beirut because since 1975 the Beirutis have withstood the PLO , Syrians and the Israelis.
I love Beirut because the Beirutis will not accept anyone to occupy them and rule over them.
I love Beirut because we feel that it is better to die standing than to live on our knees.
I love Beirut because each street is a two ways street even if it is a one way officially.
I love Beirut because one can park anywhere and not get a ticket.
I love Beirut because one can go as fast as his speedometer.
I love Beirut because MEA lands there.
I love Beirut because on MEA we can clap in unison when we are about to land.
I love Beirut not because it is my city, but because it is the city of Everyone.
I love Beirut because it welcomes every exile freethinker, independent mind of the Arab world.
I love Beirut because we have hundreds of newspapers and our press is finally Free.
I love Beirut because most wonderful people in the world dream of coming to Beirut and wish his capital to be more like Beirut.
I love Beirut because when I explain Beirut to my Western friends, my friends see the passion of Beirut in my eyes.
I love Beirut because there is so much misconception about Beirut in the media and in the minds of people who have never visited.

I love Beirut because when I tell my friends that I'm going to Beirut they reply:
"can you take me with you" or "Lucky you!".
I love Beirut because we argue over who is going to pay the bill at a restaurant as everyone wants to pay it.
I love Beirut because although many complain about "not making enough money" everyone is living.
I love Beirut because we accept our differences as we disagree with each other.
I love Beirut because it serves as a beacon of freedom to the rest of the Arab world.
I love Beirut because to paraphrase what Khalil Gibran said about Lebanon:
"Had Beirut not been my city I would have chosen it to be."

I love Beirut because there is no city like it.
I love Beirut because even if Beirut is being destroyed you are still beautiful and will remain beautiful no matter how disfigured
you are.
I love Beirut because you are always on my mind.
I love Beirut for no reason. I love Beirut for all the reasons of the "world".

OH Beirut, How much I miss you !!!!!!!

God bless you all...

2006-08-21T17:38:00.000-07:00

*From Serge

2006-08-21T17:06:00.000-07:00

WHY DO YOU LOVE BEIRUT?

2006-08-21T03:08:00.000-07:00

ببيروت

My passion for Beirut, in words:

ببيروت، في شي هيك... عالق بالهوا، مطبوع عحيطان الزّواريب، عم بينقّط نقطة نقطة من وراق الشّجر بعد ما يخلص الشّتي بشوي.

في شي بيخلّي رفيقي الأجنبي يصير يفوت عكس السير، ويقطع عالإشارة الحمرا، ويسوق متل المجنون. شي بيخلّيه يخبّرني عن مطارح ما كنت شايفتها وألوان ما كنت أعرف إقراها. بيصير يعرف الفرق بين المجدّرة والمدردرة*، ويبلّش يحكي سياسة، ويحبّ فيروز مع إنّو ما عم يفهم ولا كلمة. بيصير يعمّر بيت بالجبل، حتّى يقضّي هونيك بقية الصّيفية. وأوقات كتير بينسى حاله وبيقول: "نحنا اللبنانيّي مش رح نتعلّم أبداً..."
ببيروت، في شي بخلّيه يحبّها أكتر منّي...

في طريق هروب دايماً بتودّيك عالبحر. وفي كاميرات عطول عم بتصوّر، من خوفها الخيالي لتنسى العين، ويشرد القلب. في طريق معمولة بس حتّى تحمل حلمك، إنت وعم تمشي، ما بتعرف لوين. في شي بالعيون متل السّؤال، متل البنايات العتيقة، متل نظرة بدها تْفِلّ، متل الخراب.

ببيروت، في سرّ ما بتعرفه إلا إذا جرّيت شنطك قدّامك، شي مرّة، بالمطار... وعاشرت المدن الصَبيّة، واحدة ورا التّانية، وضلّيتك عطول تحنّ لهيدي المدينة الوحشيّة، مطرح ما "الفرق بين الظّلمة والنّور، كلمة"... واشتقت لهيديك الفوضى محلّ ما السيارات بتطلع عالرصيف والنّاس بيتمشوا بنصّ الطرقات... وبقيت، مهما بعدت، محرور بحمّى مدينة، بتعرف إنّك مش ناوي تشفى منها.

في شي أكبر منّي. وأكبر منّك. في نيسان بعمره ما بيخلص. ومطرح كلّ ما بتضيع، وبتوقع، وتتوجّع، بترجع توشوش بحروف اسمه من أوّل وجديد

Another great work from MysteriousEve

2006-08-16T07:45:00.000-07:00

Chicago

**Sent to us by Shayna

2006-08-16T07:30:00.000-07:00

lebanon, israel, bicycles, rally, los angeles........

**Photographer Natascha Unkart
http://natascha.dehors.net

2006-08-16T07:25:00.000-07:00

There are many reasons why I love Beirut, the city where I immediately felt at home.

I love the repeating clicking sound that the falafal guy makes at Barbar.
I love "Hi, keefak, ça va?"
I love watching children play at Rouche.
I love watching pretty girls from the bench in front of Coffee Shop.
I love the smell of fresh air at la Centrale when the roof opens up.
I love buying books at the Librarie Orientale and Antoine in Hamra.
I love the cats at AUB.
I love eating ice cream on Bliss Street.
I love watching girls in high heels climb the high hill to get to LAU.
I love the Corniche on a Saturday afternoon.
I love getting caught staring by pretty girls at De Prague.
I love complaining about the salt water pool at St. George.
I love ordering "wahad manouche, y'anni cocktail, jibneh ou zataar, please."
I love chatting about the monidale while taking a service.
I love drinking root beer, which I can't find in France.
I love rue Monot during the day.
I love that I can have anything delivered and everyone knows where New Perfect Home is.
I love eating Dunkin Donuts and reading the newspaper.
I love the Visit Palestine poster at Barometre.
I love complaining about the way downtown was redone.
I love saying "buzzle" and "blease."
I love learning a Sierran folk song from a Lebanese friend.
I love that I get teased for using fus-ha.
I love Lebanese girls giving me butterflies in my stomach.
I love my friends.

I love you, Beirut, and I miss you terribly already.

With love and squalor,
Sean

2006-08-15T21:19:00.000-07:00

Why do we love Beirut?
Café Rawda: sit there, stare at the sea, enjoy.

Stefanie most loves what she calles the blue hour: after sunset but before dusk at café Rawda.

Cordelia loves the smell (even if sometimes its hard to stand) and the undescribable atmosphere - attractive, comforting, full of promises. Most of all, I miss the light. It is different from other (european) cities: bright and clear but warm, somehow filled with density. 1 Million call for prayers at the same time in a cacophonie that in itself becomes beauty.

Now, we stop here; otherwise, it won't end.

Stefanie and Cordelia

2006-08-15T21:16:00.000-07:00

By Randa Mirza
www.randamirza.com

2006-08-15T21:14:00.000-07:00

Spring is beautiful everywhere, but it is most beautiful in Lebanon. It is a spirit that roams round the earth but hovers over Lebanon, conversing with kings and prophets, singing with the rives the songs of Solomon, and repeating with the Holy Cedars of Lebanon the memory of ancient glory. Beirut, free from the mud of winter and the dust of summer, is like a bride in the spring, or like a mermaid sitting by the side of a brook drying her smooth skin in the rays of the sun.

K. Gibran - from Broken Wings

Sent to us by Christopher Leadley

2006-08-15T21:06:00.000-07:00

I was born in beirut in 1970. My family left soon after the war began and I haven't been back in over 20 years. I was planning on visiting with my two year old son but the plans were aborted when the fighting began.

We're in Montreal and many of us here are flying the cedar flag on our cars to remind everyone of what's going on.

I'm enclosing a picture of my son with the flag.

I'm a writer and have begun a series of short stories on the Lebanon I remember if you would be inerested... I've never written about my country before but recent events have broght forth a torrent of memories...

I hope to return home soon and show my son where his people hail from.

Sincerely,
MZ

2006-08-15T20:47:00.000-07:00

DOWNLOAD STICKERS

I Love Beirut Sticker in cm. (single)
I Love Beirut Sticker in cm. (3 on A4)
I Love Beirut Sticker in inches. (single)
I Love Beirut Sticker in inches. (3 on Letterhead)

2006-08-14T17:22:00.000-07:00

In Beirut

In Beirut,
there’s something, like that, just like that…
Stuck in the air, printed on the walls of small roads,
Dripping little by little from the trees right after the rain…

There’s something that makes my foreign friend drive recklessly and ignore the traffic lights. Something that makes him tell me about some of our places. Places that I haven’t had the chance to see and colors I couldn’t understand. He starts understanding the difference between mjadarra and mdardara, he starts talking politics, he loves Fairuz even when he doesn’t understand a word she says. He starts building a house in the mountain, where he would spend the rest of the summer. And sometimes, so many times, he would get carried away and say: “Us Lebanese will never learn…”

In Beirut,
there’s something that makes him love her more than i do…
There’s always a shortcut road that takes you to the sea. There are always cameras taking pictures, fearing that the eye would forget, fearing that the heart would drift…
There’s a road built just to carry your dream, while you walk, not knowing where.
There’s something in people’s eyes, like a question, like the old buildings, like an escaping look, like the ruin.

In Beirut,
there’s a secret that you don’t know until you’re at the airport with your bag… until you’re estranged stranded in young cities, one after the other, forever longing to your crude city, the city where “the difference between the darkness and the light is one word”… And you miss the familiar chaos where the cars park on sidewalks and people strut in the middle of the streets… And forever, for as much as you hide away, you’re haunted with the fever of Beirut, and you know the illness is part of you and you know that she will never leave you.

In Beirut,
There’s something bigger than me, and bigger than you. There’s an April that never ends. And a place, a place that, whenever you lose yourself, whenever you fall, whenever you hurt, you come back whispering the letters of its name once anew, in Beirut.

In Beirut, there’s something, like that, just like that…
Stuck in the air, printed on the walls of small roads,
Dripping from the trees after the rain…

Eve

**For an audio version click here.

2006-08-14T17:17:00.000-07:00

Beyrouth,avec ses femmes de dolce vita et ses femmes voilées,

Beyrouth aux mille contrastes et contradictions inexpliqués,

Beyrouth de mon enfance, de ma jeunesse,

Beyrouth martyr et otage, soudainement unifiée

Puisse le printemps de Beyrouth revivre malgré la sauvagerie des "nouveaux barbares"

Amale Akiki Khoury

2006-08-10T15:42:00.000-07:00

**Received on Thursday August 10th, 2006 at 4:30 p.m. New York time....

Berlin

2006-08-10T13:24:00.000-07:00

I Love Beirut because I can't breathe outside Beirut.

Salpi B. Simitian

2006-08-10T13:23:00.000-07:00

WHY DO YOU LOVE BEIRUT?

De Prague Café (and their wait staff)
Sunrise power walkers at the Sanayeh Garden
The call to prayer in stereo
St Francis' haven garden on Hamra Street
Kittens outside the barber's
The barber's and his usual 15 rowdy men
Sukleen green bins
The fresh air in the morning before the pollution builds up again
The lights
24 hour Barbar
Najjar coffee
The undercover cops on our block
The morning sun on the kitchen balcony
The #12 bus
Balcony gardens
Walking home on cool nights
Silver waves off Corniche al Manara
Kaak bi zaatar outside Fransabank
Veggie burgers at the Hard Rock
The veggie shop on the corner
Diversity
Late nights and early mornings
The Filipino grocery store
Sa'aa icecream in Najmeh Square
The #24 bus
Houna Holistic Center
The weather
Kababji delivery
The #2 bus
Barbu's lounge in Gemmayzeh
The cinema at ABC Ashrafiyeh
Next 50% sales
Mayflower Happy Hour
Al Medina theatre
The dogs in the Fransabank lot
Politics
The shade along the ministry block
The tree at the downtown port traffic lights
Police intervention to potential stalkers
Old stairs
Layers of buildings
The Summer Music Festival
Walking along the Corniche
Walking in the back streets of Raouche
Lectures at AUB
AUB cats
Trying to not break stride on uneven sidewalks
Moving faster on two legs than the traffic
The noise
Bagels at Eurodeli
Garcon, lehsaab please!
Mint lemonade at Al Kahwaa
1970s wallpapered hotels
Pool at the Captain's Cabin
Karaoke in the red light district
Leaving for the trees

adona el-murr

2006-08-09T11:36:00.000-07:00

This Is Why I Love Beirut

I love Beirut because she is the underdog and manages always to win. Through the rubble she emerges again and again every time more beautiful than before.
I love Beirut because I can read the "Agenda Culturel" (1) while eating "Fatteh bi Laban" (2) at Abou André (3)
I love Beirut because of the American saxophonist who plays twelve variations on "Bint Al Chalabiya" (4) as if he just finished a music course with Assi El Rahbani.(5)
I love Beirut because of the oud (6) player who makes Ravel quiver of excitement in his grave hearing the oriental rendition of Boléro.
I love Beirut because the bigger its temples of worship get the more secular its population becomes.
I love Beirut because at Masrah Al Madina a group of recently high school graduate females acted out a play about female masturbation called "The Secret Life of a Woman" (Hayat el Mar'a al Sirriya) and at the end of the play they distributed flyers about the subject to all the audience, male and female.
In any other Arab country, running such a play would bring the dictator down.
I love Beirut because you see the "frenchy-coocoo" chick, along with the pierced nose left winger WOUMAAAN, the veiled religious one with a ton of makeup on, and the slut who is two inches short of wearing a fig leaf as a business suit.
I love Beirut because of the BMW driving, cigar smoking, gel wearing prick who thinks he makes the New York Stock Exchange tick.
I love Beirut because of the bearded, pony-tailed artist/journalist who writes for left wing publications.
I love Beirut because of the guys who claim they are Lebanese university students and try to sell you scented trees for your car during traffic stops. These guys wouldn't know a book if it drops on their head.
I love Beirut because of the nerdy types Engineer/software developer dudes who are working on the first water fueled engine or the next Google search engine.
I love Beirut because of the "full-of-shit" politicians who make watching the news hilarious.
I love Beirut because of the sunsets at Raouche. The People on Corniche.
I love Beirut because they have delivery service for practically anything. Anything.
I love Beirut because in my neighborhood everybody knows my name.

(1) a bi-weekly cultural events agenda that never ceases to increase in volume making Beirut "The" cultural capital of the Arab world.
(2) A Chick peas, toasted pita bread and yoghurt dish
(3) A Cult restaurant serving low cost vegetarian dishes
(4) A very old folklore tune
(5) A very famous and very prolific music composer and theater playwright who died in 1986.
(6) Middle Eastern equivalent of the luth.

Ana MinBeirut (I am from Beirut)

2006-08-09T11:29:00.000-07:00

hey guys i got this today from my friend pablo who is in madrid. it s rite in front of the US embassy. isnt it great :-)?

****sent to us by a certain fairy
www.thedancingfairy.blogspot.com

2006-08-09T11:28:00.000-07:00

YO AMO BEIRUT PORQUE LO SIENTO EN MI CORAZON Y EN MI SANGRE.

AMO BEIRUT!!!!!!!!

Carla Zouhairi

2006-08-09T11:23:00.000-07:00

Love is something undefined. It is a feeling that runs through your veins and tingles your spine. Love is charm and mystery and sensuality. Beirut is charming and mysterious and sensual. It holds me captive in its spell.

Brenda Kassir - www.sensitivemind.blogspot.com.

2006-08-09T11:18:00.000-07:00

I love Beirut, because Beirut loves me and accepts me unconditionally.
Because Beirut loves everyone. Because Beirut loves life.

Clara Kauffman

2006-08-08T20:38:00.000-07:00

WHY DO YOU LOVE BEIRUT?

2006-08-08T05:10:00.000-07:00

i love beirut.
i love her deep blue sea...

by zena el-khalil
beirutupdate.blogspot.com

2006-08-08T03:46:00.000-07:00

margaret said:

I love Beirut because I grew up there. I love Beirut even more now because I was looking forward to returning next month after 26 years to see a rebuilt Beirut. Israel and Hizbulah have done a good job of making a rebuilt Beirut past tense, but I have faith that it will once again reemerge out of the rubble.

2006-08-08T03:39:00.000-07:00

Why do I Love Beirut?

2006-08-08T03:38:00.000-07:00

Israel is intent on destroying Lebanon, actually it wants to obliterate it from the face of the earth. Lebanon is contrary to what Israel stands for: the establishment of sectarian/ethnic states in the Middle east in order to justify its existence as a Jewish state. Lebanon is a democratic state composed of 17 different religious groups who are living together and intend to go on living together under one banner LEBANON. We love Beirut because it is the symbol of this mixture and it is the most important educational and cultural center in the Middle East. Israel is doing its best to destroy this image of Beirut. We need to hear the voice of all the peace loving people all over the world to work together in order to hamper the destruction of pluralistic Lebanon. Please do your best to put an end to the slow death of Lebanon.

I, Leila S. Kadi, am a lover of life and not death. I am an ardent believer in humanity, liberty and peace.

2006-08-08T03:24:00.000-07:00

J’aime Beyrouth car je l’écoute depuis 2ans.

Beyrouth est mon ami.

Beyrouth à 3Oans.

Beyrouth est un homme Musulman.

Beyrouth parle l’Arabe, le Français, l’Anglais et l’Espagnol.

Beyrouth vie à Montréal, à Paris, et toutes les villes du monde…Et Beyrouth
vie à Beyrouth…

Beyrouth est mon dépanneur au coin de la rue, mais aussi mon architecte, mon
voisin universitaire, et surtout mon ami, ma patience, ainsi que ma force….

Beyrouth est réservé, discret, sage et parfois audacieux, fou et vivant….

Beyrouth aime les femmes, le raffinement, la musique, les expositions, les
senteurs, le bruit et le chant de toutes les cultures.

Et Beyrouth me traîne voir tout ça. Car Beyrouth n’est jamais blasé.

Beyrouth me fait danser la valse à 2hoo du matin comme ça, car c’est
Beyrouth…

Beyrouth me cuisine Beyrouth quand j’oublie de me nourrir.

Beyrouth écoute la France, car la France est une enfant pourrie gâtée qui
pleure ses riens.

Tandis que Beyrouth pleure ses morts.

Beyrouth écoute mes histoires de cœurs ridicules, mes angoisses ridicules,
mon quotidien insipide...Car Beyrouth est mon ami…

Beyrouth est un très beau garçon aux yeux noirs.

Beyrouth est une famille sur une terrasse de Beyrouth chantant la paix.

Beyrouth chante et joue d’un instrument : celui de la vie.

J’aime Beyrouth car je la lis depuis 6mois.

Beyrouth est mon amie.

Beyrouth à 31 ans.

Beyrouth est Chrétienne.

Beyrouth est une femme.

Beyrouth est franco-Libanaise et parle l’Arabe, l’Anglais et toutes les
langues du monde.

Beyrouth vit à Paris, à Montréal et Beyrouth vit à Beyrouth…

Beyrouth est biologiste, journaliste, avocat, cinéphile mais surtout mon
calme et ma force…

Beyrouth est bavarde, souriante, extravertie, cultivée, curieuse, charmante
et charmeuse…

Beyrouth ne se voile pas la face sur Beyrouth. Beyrouth a une pointe de
féminisme …

Beyrouth aime les hommes, danse le contemporain, et rédige des notes sur
Beyrouth…

Beyrouth m’offre une glace à Bastille car j’oublie de me nourrir.

Beyrouth écoute mes riens tout en pensant aux siens… Car Beyrouth est mon
amie…

Beyrouth est une très jolie femme aux boucles noires.

Beyrouth est une famille au téléphone hurlant la paix.

Beyrouth joue et danse un pas : celui de la vie.

Je ne connais pas le Liban, ni Beyrouth mais j’aime le sourire et les larmes
de Beyrouth.

J’aime la diversité de ce peuple. J’aime Beyrouth. J’aime sa Force…

Posté par Misschatterbox.

2006-08-08T03:23:00.000-07:00

Things I love about Beirut: The book shops around the AUB, Le Petit Café
at Rouche, the narrow and dank streets in Sabra and Chatilla, the
clapping when the plane lands at the airport, and of course the people
with their eccentricities, stubbornness and infectious love of life.

H

2006-08-08T03:21:00.000-07:00

From Shayna:

a couple days after i evacuated beirut and returned to the states, a friend left me a voicemail:
"welcome back, shayna. i'm glad you're safe. i want to hear your story but also, please tell me,
what were the good things about beirut?"

this is a reply to him and a shout-out to all y'all!

(in no particular order)
kissing three times on the cheek.
asking how are you four times in three languages.
talking loudly in a concert at aub assembly hall and being shushed even more loudly.
90-minute attention spans at any concert
going to "the beach": al-rawda, hotel riviera, al manar, white beach, pearl beach, oceana, guava
being (nearly) sideswiped by cars in the sidestreets of achrafieh and taberis, every single friggin day
catching a service and then catching up with a friend who happens to be sitting in the backseat, three days after i arrived in beirut
watching neighbors grab midnight snacks from the kitchen refrigerator
meeting a friend at dunkin donuts, downtown
manouche with kichek
why "missed call" is a verb
torino
and kayan
or barometre
catching a ride to catch a ride to catch a ride with a friend (of a friend)
july's blossoms in the streets, the smell of lilacs near aub
serenity in baabda
the smell of the jasmine trees drifts by fountains adorning castles in the mountains, and above them, the moon
welcome to nowhereistan!
would you like some coffee?

once i was welcomed into lebanon by a border guard stationed in masnaa at the beirut-damascus highway: "you're from the states? why do you want to be in our godforsaken country?"

for all the reasons above, which you may understand more if you've traveled or lived in beirut.

and for those who haven't yet had the opportunity,
because beirut is a city that sweeps you up into an embrace that tingles and toys with you. because beirutis know precisely why you're visiting or living there before you've figured it out. which gives you more to figure out. if you can. because you can always play in beirut and sometimes you can work. because beirut is charmed and those who live there are charming.

yalla, bye!

2006-08-08T03:19:00.000-07:00

Beyrouth ma ville mon amour

J’aime Beyrouth pour ses murs qui parlent, ses murs qui semblent se liquéfier et pleurer de l’intérieur.

J’aime Beyrouth pour ses bruits, le cri du vendeur de légumes ambulant, la musique jazz ou techno qui s’échappe des lieux nocturnes, le chant de la mosquée qui se mélange aux cloches de l’église, les klaxons intempestifs, les inflexions en version originale et version sous-titrée, les tambours et les chants de l’homme qui réveille les jeûneurs la nuit pendant le Ramadan.

J’aime Beyrouth pour ses paysages si divers ; le bord de mer où se pressent les promeneurs, les fumeurs de narguileh, les sportifs entêtés ou du dimanche, les familles qui viennent pique-niquer et le café de Rawda où j’allais jouer enfant ; le centre-ville à la fois si beau et irréel, dont nous sommes si fiers et que nous adorons critiquer tout à la fois ; Hamra avec sa clameur, son mélange de cafés mythiques et de bars récents où réinventent le monde les intellectuels…

J’aime Beyrouth pour ses gens de partout et d’ailleurs, toujours généreux et affables, à la langue volubile et parfois acérée, pour toutes les rencontres étranges et riches qu’on y fait.

J’aime Beyrouth pour ses artistes, toujours à l’affût de quelque chose de différent, un peu hautains à l’occasion.

J’aime même Beyrouth pour ses « service », qui ne vous emmèneront nulle part pour mille livres mais au bout du monde pour un peu plus, le meilleur lieu pour apprendre les dernières rumeurs.

J’aime Beyrouth parce qu’elle ne mourra pas, parce qu’aucune bombe et qu’aucune invasion ne pourra la détruire.

Nayla Naoufal

2006-08-08T03:15:00.000-07:00

been trying to upload it as a PDF for download but it won't happen...at least not tonight...so for those who still want it email us and we'll send it to you right away

2006-08-06T23:59:00.000-07:00

LONDON

****stickers pasted incognito by M & S & D.....(thanks girls....)
****photograph taken by VK

2006-08-05T12:03:00.000-07:00

WHY DO YOU LOVE BEIRUT?

2006-08-04T11:04:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK

**Photos courtesy of Mike....Thank You Mike.

2006-07-29T12:53:00.000-07:00