Almost Back...

I am still in Beirut, still trying to make sense of the chaos, though I have to admit it was quite a beautiful slap in the face. It is my last weekend here, and I have yet to squeeze a coffee here, a lunch there, and soak in as much sun as my skin can take before I head back to the quiet life of London.
There is so much to say about Beirut, about the youth enthusiasm, and lack of it, about the social/political situation, and the general nonchalance of summer, but as long as I am here in the midst of it all, it remains hard to define.
Yes, it is hectic in the political sphere, but I was selfish enough to bypass it all, and curse my denial of Lebanese politics if you wish, but seeing my president sunbathing in the mountains on a Friday morning, wearing a clingy speedo and innocently spreading his legs to maximize the tan on his crotch, made me a bit weary of it all... Between the "Tsuna Mi-chel Aoun" and the "I heart Geagea Kteer" and the Hariri Father and Son embrace, well...
I preferred the cozy smell of coffee and jazz music of Torino in Gemmayzeh, where, I have to admit, I spent at least 4 hours daily, sipping on wine, and seeing the familiar faces of my extended family. I know it sounds all corny, but dammit! i love that neon sign flickering at the window! My epileptic sigh of relief...

One WEEK to GO

Ok Bloggers, one more week to go for survey, im closing it on the 20th August. So to those of you who have not participated or know anyone who hasn't, shido el Himi , im relying on your grassroot efforts and on getting at least 60% of the total make-up of bloggers in area.

Click Here to take the survey

Countdown to Beirut

In 4 and a half hour, a mini-cab will be picking me up from home straight to Heathrow... I am going to Beirut. My mind has been empty for the past week, already transported to sunny Atlas beach, and the comfort of my Broumana home. No mice, no pantry bugs (yup, a new infestation...), no chicken shop smell, no draft beers, and flat tyres, and no more Zindibad phonecards. I've waxed my bikini line, stocked up on rollies - smoking 2 packs a day when on Gitanes! - bleached my tummy hair, plucked my eyebrows, gotten the familia their gifts, bought sunglasses, and packed my suitcase 5 hours ahead of time.

I've been a carcass these past days... can't wait to be home.

Apparently I'm a Geek!

I got emailed this: London Girl Geek Dinner, with the title 'Thought you might be interested'. So to all you geek girls out there, be proud, as from the list of the other geeks attending, it seems pretty awesome to be one!

"Can I get a lift, love?"

I worked my shift at the pub last night, and the Staropramen lager tap exploded 3 times in my face, which drenched me in what I refer to as piss foam. But that's not what ticked me...
120 poured pints and 6+1/2 hours later, I ammassed a generous 75p in tips, but that didn't tick me off either.
It is the drunken bastard who decided it was funny to sit on the luggage extension of my bike after my shift, and who flattened my tyre, that really pissed me off.
Who knows, I may have been the one who got him drunk in the first place.
75p and a flat tyre... thanks, mate!

Lobster, yum?

I had lobster today, for the first time. It was actually half a lobster, chopped smack down the length-middle. The cut was so perfect, they could've used a chainsaw for all I know. The weird thing is that I'm not sure if I liked it so much, even though I ate all that I could scrape out of it, and left nothing but it's beetroot carcass. And that's precisely the thing that made me all queasy... The carcass! It's actually half a lobster, with its dead eyes, and legs, with the little hairs on the end, and humungous claws, and all the joints and cartilage still intact. I used the appropriate tools (pliers and a claw-like poking device with fangs) and I scraped the inside out of a carcass that still stared at me, and ate it all. I played with it all the while, opening and closing its claw, and examining the way the transluscent joint slid up and down as traction played its biological part... A giant spider.
Basically, it's like being served a delicious piece of sirloin steak attached to the cow's head on the plate... no one says it's not still a delicious piece of meat, but when you realize the liquid is blood, the red stuff is muscle, and the cow's eyes are staring back at you, it's hard to swallow properly.
It was nice, but I won't be doing it soon enough...