Trip 2: Tripoli, Cedars Forest (Bcharreh), Hiking to Kornet el Sawda

After a busy week of classes in Beirut, we embarked on our second SINARC  trip. This time, we headed to northern Lebanon, starting in Tripoli. We toured the fort in Tripoli and witnessed many army tanks and even a makeshift barrack within the old fort. Afterwards, we headed to the bay area in Tripoli, and took a boat ride out into the Mediterranean. While enjoying the beautiful day, we passed a few small islands, and docked on one about an hour away - the water was clear, and the beach was a great place to relax on a summer Saturday in Lebanon. After our beach excursion, we headed back to the bay, jamming to some popular arabic music, including my current favorite song, "Habibit Elbi", which means "love/darling of my heart" in Lebanese (note that Qalb, which is heart in FusHa, is pronounced "Elb" in Ammea, the qa is pronounced with "eh" instead).

After we arrived back at shore, we climbed into the bus and headed to our next destination - lunch! We satiated our impressive appetites with full Lebanese mesa at a mountain restaurant, Zorba Pub. After a delicious lunch, we traveled to our next destination, the Cedars Forest in Bcharreh.

The Cedars Forest is a famous attraction and an amazing sight within itself - beautiful cedars thousands of years old make up the forest. The problem is that the cedar trees, which used to be found all over these mountains in Lebanon, are now really only found in a few places. Important initiatives to protect the Cedars of Lebanon include preservation, and replanting programs, to protect the trees still intact in Lebanon, and to also support the growth and replacement of new trees in the region. And boy, these trees are impressive. Towering over us, the national symbol of Lebanon is a wonderful sight. Coincidently, the Cedars forest was also set up for a wedding - a really beautiful venue in the north western mountains - mabrook to the happy couple!

After touring the Cedars, we headed to a nearby Sooq. Buyers beware, you better be ready to bargain. We started with the candy man, for some traditional Lebanese sweets. This trip ended up costing me 20, read, 20 US dollars - for a pound of local treats. Sweet deal? could have been sweeter. The secret is to bargain - like any market, these merchants start high and are usually willing to go down by almost half - allowing for some great, or at least fair deals, if the buyer is on their toes and a force to be "bargained" with. Lets just say that I learned my lesson, and am ready to hit the sooq with small bills and a sharp tongue next time we shop in the market. I also purchased some really cool pieces of cedar wood, with my name engraved in Arabic. This wood is taken from a local tree near the market, from wood that falls off during the winter - so none of the trees in the conservation area were harmed in the process of creating these wooden souvenirs.

Shopping completed, candy in tow, our group prepared to move on. Before we left the market, some of us witnessed an ATV accident on the road. Two girls were driving their ATV, and they drove off of the road, crashing into a wooden shed. Some members of our group helped to pry the girls out of the shed - one was not hurt badly, the other broke her ribs. After a few minutes, an IRC (International Red Cross) vehicle drove up and took the driver to the hospital, while Lebanese soldiers assisted in the cleanup process. This was tragic but luckily no one was too hurt - if the ATV had diverged further along the road, they girls would have been in a lot more trouble.

Post excitement, we moved to our final stop of the day - our hotel! We stayed at Hotel Saint Bernard, a cute chalet/ country get-away near the cedars forest. Another full meza awaited us for dinner, and after a delicious and traditional Lebanese meal, we enjoyed the breeze and cool weather, and called it a night.

The next morning began a truly epic day. After a light breakfast of Nescafe, boiled eggs, labneh, zaatar and hoobz, we made our way to the mountains - by way of extremely windy cliff roads in our large tour bus. After a risky journey with our very skilled driver, we arrived a certain mountain base - Kornet el Sawda. This is an area high up in the mountains above Bcharreh, parallel to some of the ski resorts in the area. The path that we hiked was truly amazing - I haven't been on a hike like it yet, even in New England's copious hiking areas. We hiked for about 2 hours, so we did not go all the way to the summit, but we did get a workout. The area that we were hiking in had no trees or vegetation, and was very rocky. The air was thin, and there was a great breeze - but the environment was also prone to sunburns and nose bleeds. What made up for this was the absolutely insane view of the valley  below - it was really gorgeous and amazing to see. We could see the Cedars in Bcharreh, as well as the entire countryside surrounding it - beautiful.


Exhausted and with quite the appetite, we made our way, slowly but surely, down the mountain to an outdoor restaurant in the valley. We then indulged in a three hour, traditional Lebanese lunch, with meza, complete with Dabka dancing. After the meal, we headed to our final destination of the weekend, the Khalil Gibran museum.

Khalil Gibran was a great writer and artist, and especially close to home for me, since he lived in Boston, learned Arabic in his later years, and shared a love for Lebanon and great writing and art. In short, it was a nice end to a great weekend of exploring norther Lebanon. As a great finale, we traveled back to Beirut in time for the World Cup Final: Spain vs. Holland!!! After an exciting game, we went to sleep exhausted, and excited for Spain's win - viva España!!

Walid Jumblatt, Beitddine, Ksara and Baalbeck: Trip 1

Last Saturday, we went on our first SINARC Excursion. Our first stop was to the Shouf Mountain, to visit the home of prominent Druze political leader Walid Jumblatt. The official leader of the PSP, or the Progressive Socialist Party of Lebanon, Jumblatt lives in a private complex in the heart of the Shouf mountains. The Druze are a religious and political community in Lebanon. They are technically an offshoot of Islam, but with their own unique religious and cultural traditions. We met with Jumblatt, and were allowed to ask pretty controversial questions, which was really interesting. Beyond supporting Syria and Hezbollah and strongly opposing Israel, Jumblatt also recommended some good reads on the Middle East, including: Beware of Small States by David Hirst.

Our next stop was Beiteddine, by way of Deir al-Qamar. The Beiteddine Palace is a beautiful national hallmark, which also hosts the Beiteddine Summer Music Festival, showcasing local and international artists and performers. There were some really beautiful views of the mountains, and some great natural springs to cool off and recharge before the next part of our trip.

After grabbing a quick lunch of Labneh sandwiches, we headed to Ksara winery for a wine tasting. Ksara is located about 10 minutes away from Zahle, and I had visited the winery earlier this summer. My uncle owns a travel agency in Zahle, Hajjar Travel, and he hosted the business attache for the Polish Ambassador as part of the celebration of the opening of a direct flight from Warsaw to Beirut. We met with some of their reporters, toured the wineries, went to lunch at the Shams restaurant. This visit to Ksara was similarly fun, and the caves underneath the winery are really cool.

Post wine tour, we headed for our final stop, Baalbeck. This is one of the most famous Roman ruins in Lebanon, and is truly fabulous. The temple was originally built to honor Baal, the Roman god, and now serves as an awesome venue for Lebanese art and cultural performances. Definitely an awesome site, and the ruins are amazing.

The first week of classes has gone really well, I am in Advanced I with Professor Wafaa Abdelnour, and Dialect II with professor Laura Obeid. We usually have dialect in the morning and then 3 hours of MSA. After class, we have been exploring the city. Some of the hotspots include different beaches, and we have seen the pigeon rocks and walked along the Corniche, beautiful!!

Beirut, Day 1

Ahlan Wa Sahlan, and Welcome to Lebanon!

I have been in this beautiful country for over two weeks, mostly spending time traveling, and visiting relatives. Today is my first full day in Beirut. I am studying at Lebanese American University with the SINARC program. Classes break down into three hours of MSA Arabic in the morning, and then an hour of Lebanese Dialect in the afternoon. My relatives are excited to hear my new dialect skills, so time to pay attention! Today we took a longgg placement test, which reminded me of the Professor Kilany days back at Georgetown...

Ma3el salémé (goodbye/"go with peace")