Something So Simple

Springtime flowers on the window ledge:

They appeared a few weeks ago and they brighten my way as I pass by.

Looking East

Standing on a friend's balcony, looking east:

All the buildings in this shot are familiar sites and landmarks on my frequent walks through the city.  Though I know these places, I'd never seen them from this angle before.  For me, and other city dwellers too I imagine, a new perspective on familiar scenes is a distinct, if small pleasure.

Have You? Could You? Would You?

Not long ago our family had our first day at the beach of the 2011 season. I'm glad it's already here.

We went to the public beach, which is what it sounds like--a public strip of coastline. It's not the cleanest, not the nicest beach in Lebanon, and it lacks facilities like showers and toilets. But its proximity can't be beat, it's free, and it's open. We still have a month to go before our favorite private beach opens for the season.

Beaches are great for people watching, great for quietly noticing what everyone else is up to. And, for me, noticing what everyone is doing and wearing.

Children can wear whatever they want. Little boys and little girls were wearing bathing suits, and some were in street clothes. Even the ones in street clothes got into the water, and in the past I've seen kids swim in their underwear without incurring any social censure.

Men also wear a wide range of clothes.   They'll sunbathe, play ball games, etc. in anything from tiny Speedos to full street attire.

Women are another matter.  Lots of women spend their time at the beach covered from head to toe and some even swim that way.   On our most recent visit to the public beach there were dozens of women there, but I saw only two women in sleeveless shirts and shorts--not totally covered up, but also not a bathing suit, not by a long shot. 

I'm not sure why this is.  It's not that Lebanese women don't wear swimming suits.  Many of them do.  You see them crowding the many, many private beaches where women's swimwear is, if anything, MORE risque than in the US or Germany (my two points of reference).   So why aren't they wearing them at the public beach? 

Maybe you, my dear reader, can help me figure this out.  Women of Lebanon, or women who are familiar with Beirut's public beach--Have you ever worn a bathing suit there? Would you ever do it? What would it take for you to do it?  Leave a comment because I'm dying to know.

Her Favorite

My daughter was on the balcony, looking over the edge. I asked her what she was doing out there.

"I'm looking at my favorite house," she said.

Through the Glass

When the light is just right, you can see through the glass.

It's been a wind-swept, rain-washed, sea-rolling few days.

I love how the air feels just after it rains--cool, humid, clean.

Wonders of the Sea, Les Merveilles de la Mer

Lovely old homes like this one are becoming ever more rare in Beirut. This is one of the few that I've seen that still has a garden, just as it would have years ago when this style was the standard here in Lebanon. And, as you might have already guessed, this is not just any historic house in Beirut.

Well, first of all, it's not actually in Beirut. It's in Jdiedeh, which is just about 10 minutes north of here.

But as I was saying, it isn't just a nice old house. Inside there's a fantastic museum of marine life. It's called Wonders of the Sea, Les Merveilles de la Mer.

They have a website, which is nice and includes lots of information about the thousands of specimens you'll find on display and the species you'll find in their aquariums. Also on display is a very fun movie that shows various sea creatures eating, molting, giving birth (daddy seahorse!). The kids loved it.

The museum has parking, which you can get to from the road running along the north side of it. City Mall is a good point of reference to help you understand how to find it.

They're open year-round on weekdays 8:30-1:30. September-June they're also open Saturday/Sunday 3-7. Admission for adults is 8,000 LL, kids 5,000 LL.  Well worth the trip.

Blooming Yellow

This picture feels like Spring.

So does Beirut.

Scrap Path

About a week ago I said I'd upload a photo of a very humble stairway, and here it is. Its treads are made of scraps of wood and the handrail is a thin wisp of a tree trunk, an improvement over the original rope. I don't know how long the stairs have been here or been in this form. I imagine that years ago it was just a dirt path. Then, probably, someone brought in the wood scraps so that the path was still useful in the rainy season.

These stairs are a shortcut, bypassing a hairpin turn roughly 100 meters to the right of where I stood to take this picture.

Everywhere Edges

There's a staircase edging past that little hut.

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