Beirut Day 3-June 26

After a real day of classes, which ended early because Friday afternoons are scheduled for fieldtrips and we didn’t have one, Teresa and I went to the cafeteria to get lunch, where we both got pizza. Pizza, which is of a slightly different style than in the US, is very popular somehow in Lebanon. At the cafeteria I ran into my friend Claire who I know from undergrad when we briefly worked together. I knew that she was here but hadn’t had a chance to talk to her yet. She is not in CAMES but is just taking classes as a visiting student. While we were at lunch two CAMES students, Toby and Mounir, invited us to join the large group that was going out to dinner that night. Teresa and I agreed to meet with them later.

After lunch Claire and I decided to check out the AUB “beach”. Beach here should be interpreted very loosely. It is nothing so much as an expanse of rock and concrete with semi-rough ocean in front of it. No sand whatsoever. There is a very small pool, about thigh high. There is a large space for deck chairs and a walkway on which you can walk out and step down a ladder into the ocean. The beach is much more about being seen and sunbathing than it is about swimming. Claire and I stood in the pool for a while before heading out into the ocean. It was not too bad once we got past this sort of barrier of rocks but right by the ladder if you aren’t careful each wave trough will have you hitting rocks. Once you get past the barrier, the water is deep enough that that doesn’t happen. The AUB beach is roped off so we didn’t go too far out but we still noticed the pull of the waves. We didn’t spend too long out there. The ocean is supposed to be somewhat dirty, as evidenced by the trash you can see on some of the rocks. I made sure to take a shower right after the back. Since I basically bathed in sunscreen with SPF 50 before I left, for once in my life I actually managed to avoid getting a sunburn at the beach. Go me.

I met up with the group for dinner at the main gate and we took taxis to Achrafiye, one of the neighborhoods. There were at least 15 of us and we all met back up at an Italian restaurant (again), called Claudia’s. Dinner was fairly nice. After dinner people were being polled about whether or not they wanted to go to one of Beirut’s famous nightclubs, with a $30 per person cover charge that got you a table and a bottle of vodka. Four of us were tired or not interested and so headed back to AUB via taxi and went to bed.