Here I am at an overpriced Italian place with Wifi on Hamra street. Ibamos a explorar Downtown Beirut today, but I was the only SINARC student to show up at the lower gates of the university at 8:30 this morning (after a night returning at 2:00am, thank you very much), so they canceled the trip. Actually, I have liked today, and the relaxation it provided...including reading Lord of the Rings, which I brought to Spain six months ago in hopes of finishing it there. Oops; I have just reached the flee to Helm's Deep. I fully intend on finishing it before my Aug 1 return....I also have the chance to blog! Which will include a description of the highlight of Lebanon, for me, so far: the hike up El-Rahal!
So our weekend excursion on July 11-13 involved a small group--the 15 of us who elected not to go to Syria that weekend (out of 100 total SINARC students), all comfortably spread through an air-conditioned bus, driving to Tripoli on Saturday, and staying in the cedar "forest" Saturday night and Sunday. Tripoli was, sorry, forgettable. It was Beirut but less organized and more poor, though I did enjoy the sweeping boat ride through the island chain off the coast of the city. But that evening we drove up and up until we reached the scanty cedar forest at the base of a rim of snowy mountains. It was at first painful entering the region. Of a once cedar-covered country, which even sports the tree on its national flag, the three-square-mile circle of magnificent trees is all that is left in Lebanon. I found myself reminscing of Maui, Gaelic, the Amazon, perhaps even Euskera--all the tidbits I have come across that may soon disappear forever. But after a relaxing walk to the top of the circle, where I swear there was no sound at all, and the sunset was taunting me through the pine scent, I forgot the sadness. 'Twas almost as fantastic as the French Pyrenees :).
(Interlude...Bing Crosby's "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" definitely just started blasting at this Italian restaurant in Beirut. In July. I love this country.)
We stayed a night at a simple wooden hotel five minutes from the forest, receiving a free five-course Lebanese dinner and breakfast, and woke early to take the rickety ski lift halfway up the third highest peak in Lebanon, El-Rahal, to reach the summit, we crossed through a snow drift. Arg, California girls don't do snow drifts. I remember one time I tried in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, with my super-skiing cousing Jill, and she couldn't stop laughing at my knack for slipping. This time around, my butt hit the ice seven times. We next trekked through a few hundred meters of bee territory, where random brush with purple flowers attracts all the stingers in the area. This was my least favorite part. I haven't been stung and intend to keep in that way. We finally summited after struggling up a loose, rocky slope, which an Italian named Filippe had to tow me up, basically. At the top, a human-sized, simple wooden cross was waiting for us, along with a view of almost the entire country (I got a great pic; Pido paciencia con el upload). The only thing that ruined the moment was an ill-timed "We hiked all this way to see a cross?" remark, from a skeptical Muslim.
Let it be sung through New Zealand, Mongolia and Scotland: I am in love with you, nature, and intend to get to know you better, In Shah Allah.
Here comes the million-dollar writing moment: I am less than 3 weeks from home. You can expect a dazzling report of my 2-day layover in London, where I will be meeting Marie-Helene, a SanSe Erasmus friend from Quebec, who magically happens to be in the most expensive city in the world on the same weekend. To be honest, however, I'd be just as happy flying straight home. It is time. I don't know why I'm so dead-set on exploring Peace Corps Jordan/Morocco options after college, cuz they stay away 2 years, and 6 months was hard (and fantastic) enough. In hand-wringing anticipation, and the resigned knowledge that after 2 weeks in good ole Ventura I'll be itching for el exterior again, I announce the
Top 15 things I'm excited to do upon returning home:
15...hear American English everywhere. Ouch, how easy it will be; I can't wait.
14...eat horrid processed food, like oreos, Kraft cheddar singles, and Ritz crackers with cheese.
13...learn to cook a Spanish tortilla, Lebanese Fatoush, and Hawaiian pizza, in my parents' kitchen.
12...stuff my face with frozen yogurt, at Joe's across the street from my parents' house, and at Penguin's once school starts.
11...renew my wardrobe with help from Salvation Army, Oxfam Fair Trade Store, Goodwill, and other (infrequent) places where not everything's made in China.
10...embrace my doggie. I can just see her elated confusion when I greet her in the car at the airport. WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?? Sorry Kix!
9...bike some of the Pacific Coast Highway with my dad. Just a small bit. No hills or traffic. HA, yeah, that's possible.
8...bother the my fellow Ventura LMU friends, Katie and Liz Manning, at Barnes and Noble, where I wanted to work, and they got the jobs. No hard feelings here...no REALLY. ;) And that's why I'll be bothering them. Also because I like them.
7...walk the Camarillo trails with the Lower sisters. I recalled my first time doing this on the hike up El-Rahal. Okay, so Camarillo's not as exciting as a cedar forest, but those Lowers make everything a party in Narnia!
6...have some long-awaited phone conversations with incredible people (Joey, Alex, Derek, Ohemaah: beware).
5...have a pizza/movie night with my best friend. Already set for August 5. We will be making cookie dough and drowning of gab in her pool.
4...make an Erasmus poster, full of pictures of me with my favorite Europeans, to put in my dorm room in the fall. Countdown to senior year: 6 weeks!
3...continue surfing in my native land (with my birthday present: a longboard).
2...turn 21 and celebrate it with a family boat ride, a trip to an Irish pub, and some salsa dancing.
1...plan my next trip to Spain! Possibly as an English teaching assistant, or student at University of Granada? With Molly? We'll see...
I'm off to find a new cafe on Hamra, and then to go to sleep very, very early, after a couple hours of studying. Asalam Alaykum; Peace be upon you!
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