2009-11-08

Memories of Lebanon...

I sat in the butt-freezing cold, staring at the distance. There’s at least an hour before the sunrise. The cold breeze sweeping across the lake went piercing through my skin and chilled my bones. It must have been around five degrees, but the breeze made it feel like sub-zero.

The misty haze was slowly clearing away from the vast plateau that stood beyond the waterfront. The lake was slowly turning from a dull gray to a beautiful transparent blue shade that reminded me of Farah’s eyes. She was gorgeous. Her gray-blue eyes were mesmerising.

There is something magical about the Middle-Eastern women.

They are blessed with the ivory skin and the black hair – a beautiful combination that appeals to most men from the Paradise isle.

Black hair on ivory skin. Exotic. To say the least.

Farah was one of the receptionists at the hotel we were staying. She must have been in her early twenties, if not barely out of her teens. We knew that she existed only at the time of our departure; our all-day adventures in Beirut kept us away from the daytime staff. Next thing we see is Farah signing off from work and a black Mercedes SLK arriving at her footstep. When you are gorgeous, you are never going to walk in your life. Ever.

Salah gets me a nice and hot Arabic coffee, and breaks my train of thoughts. He tells me in Arabic that there are cheese manaeesh and zatar for breakfast, if I’m feeling peckish. I’m in no mood for any food but the warmth of the tiny coffee cup helps. I wish I had a pack of Davidoff Lights in my pocket like the good old days.

I love these unusual adventures. I love the randomness in life. I like being in the middle of nowhere, being close to nature. The vast emptiness around me reminds me how insignificant I am, in the grand scheme of things.

Lebanon is a tiny country that is abundant in natural beauty. Just like our little paradise home. Within a couple of hours from the warm and sunny Beirut, one could end up in the misty mountains where the snow-covered peaks make ideal skii slopes in Winter.

I try to remember the last time I was in this region. I remember driving through this valley with Fadi in his red Chevy listening to Celine Dion duet with Barbara Streisand for the first time. Not that I’m a huge fan of the Canadian diva, but the memory of that drive through this beautiful land is still stuck in my mind. That Christmas, I bought myself Angela Dimitriou’s “Margarites” from Beirut, and left the rest of the world to buy Celine Dion.

I also remember Nabil’s stories of their Defender getting stuck in the mud in this very same region and how they had to leave it for a couple of days till the rain ceased, before it was pulled out with the help of a big yellow Cat.

Its funny how a stranger in a strange land feels somewhat homely when there are memories that connect the two.

I’ve been to Lebanon quite a few times since 1996 and I kind of like this place. The only thing that I hate though is, whenever I introduce myself, most of the Lebanese ask me “kohomada?” with a smile. Either they, or their kids, have been brought up by a maid from Paradise.

I hate when the world classifies Sri Lanka as the country where the maids come from.

15 comments:

  1. Regarding your last sentence...it's either that or 'the country where the Sinhalese are killing the Tamils'...unless you're lucky enough to bump into a cricket aficionado. I don't think we can blame them, it's all down to their exposure...I suppose it's up to us to dispel the stereotype.

    By the way, I love these travel posts of yours!

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  2. Lebanon (and the Lebanese) seems beautiful! :) And the bit about the maids is really thought provoking... but as Cerno would say, vut tu du no? :)

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  3. Nice writeup,mate. Brings back old memories,nothing fancy as yours, though. Lebanese are somewhat different from rest of the Arabs. Oh, yes Lebanese women are beautiful. Just appreciate the beauty,nothing more, if you want to take advice.

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  4. "I hate when the world classifies Sri Lanka as the country where the maids come from."

    Oh GOD. Me too. My 4 closest friends in Sydney turned out to be Lebanese/Egyptian/Palestinian mixes and they all only knew Sri Lanka as the place where their maids in the Middle East came from. Before they met me anyway. It *pissed* me off. Grr. Sri Lanka is many things, but least of all that.

    Ugh. Anyway.

    Great post as always :)

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  5. @Pseudo: indeed, indeed. Seems that only Paki’s and Indians know us for “Jayasuriya, Jayasuriya” – the rest, depends which part of the world you are really...
    And thank you! ;)

    @Chavie: Yeah, I have a few dozens of very good friends who are Lebanese, but they are very racist too. I usually pretend that I’m from Nepal or Haiti or something if I wanna get in to a club, if they knew I’m Sri Lankan I might have trouble with the bouncers. Yep, vut to do no?

    @Dappi Sira: Thanks mate. Well, lets just say that my bachelor days are long gone. ;)

    @Gypsy: thank you. *bows humbly*

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  6. Interesting experiences, I've heard there's a fair amount of racism against brown skin b/c of the maid association. Also RE the maids, they do of course bring some of the largest amounts of foreign exchange into the country though.

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  7. Interesting experiences, I've heard there's a fair amount of racism against brown skin b/c of the maid association, any truth in that? Also RE the maids, they do of course bring some of the largest amounts of foreign exchange into the country though.

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  8. N: Yeah. So much so that tea isn’t the leading revenue generator anymore. But the benefits they get from the government are very unreasonable. I mean, a doctor gets a free vehicle permit every 5 years or so while generating no foreign income, an expat worker could send millions back home (some have been overseas for 25 years or so...) and get zilch.

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  9. Enjoyed reading your lebanon post. Look forward to more travel stories!

    Love the line..
    "When you are gorgeous, you are never going to walk in your life. Ever."
    so true

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  10. I agree that foreign workers deserve more respect and benefits back home (not just the maids, but the construction workers, drivers etc.) and a hell of a lot more support from the Sri Lankan consulates abroad.

    However, I think it has to be said that doctors keep a huge amount of money within our economy that would otherwise be spent on getting treatment abroad. I doubt the figures are available, but I believe the numbers going abroad for live-saving surgery have decreased drastically over the past decade or so. And also they do save/improve lives on a daily basis :-).

    I don't mean to whinge, and I'm not trying to defend the permits per se, but I just feel doctors make a soft target, and maybe that's not fair? :-)

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  11. @Santhoshi: More stories in due time, I hope.

    @Pseudo: *nods in agreement*
    I was thinking out loud and doctors just popped in to my mind. I know its not every 5 years now.
    Guess I should've said politicians..? ;)

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  12. Lovely travel post! Sounds like a really exotic place with fancy food names!!! And yes it hurts when people think of Sri Lanka that way!:(

    INDY

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  13. Great post S Isle, makes me want to go there. Thanks for the sharing.

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  14. RD, I read in Guardian UK that Beirut is “the most glamorous tourist destination in 2010”. Yes you should consider a trip down there. Seriously. Great place for drummers too ;)

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