Beirut Day 14- July 7, 2009

In dialect class today we began learning how to give directions and so we played a form of treasure hunt. A student was chosen to leave the room, the rest of the class would take an object, hide it, invite the student back in and then direct them to it. It was only mildly entertaining since we have no practical speed with it yet. We would manage to say “walk straight” and by the time we had remembered/figured out how to say “when you reach the chair turn left” the person would be beyond the chair or waiting at the wall already.

I went to the Protection Office to pick up my ID but alas there was bad news. The ID Center was moving that day and I probably would not get my ID until at least Friday. I went to the CAMES office after that to ask about whether or not there really was an internet quota (answer: no, not for CAMES) and Dr. Saida asked if I had been having trouble coming in the gates and I said yes, a little (I think it helps that I am obviously American with an obviously American name (or at least not Lebanese) and am thus probably not sneaking into AUB to make mischief). She offered to write me a note confirming that I was in fact a CAMES student and was waiting for a replacement ID. I was expecting a scrawled note but she very nicely wrote it up on letterhead and signed it and put the CAMES stamp on it as well. Although I do feel a bit like a second grader with a note from her mom.

I tried a new thing for lunch today: sandwich batata, i.e. potato sandwich. It is basically French fries in a pita wrap with a tahini like sauce and tomatoes, which I picked out. Unhealthy to be sure, but so delicious. French fries here are somewhere between the texture of crispy American fries and quite squishy homefries. After lunch the whole program went to watch the movie Caramel, by a Lebanese director. It was quite good and it was gratifying to see a movie about Lebanon that did not deal with the war or sectarian conflict. It also covered somewhat taboo themes, albeit a bit obliquely sometimes, such as lesbianism, sex before marriage and the ideal of virginity and adultery.