Birthday in Beirut

WE MADE IT. And we are still best friends. It was a rough couple of days before we left, but the minute we hit this morning everything was in order.

The flight to Paris was spent in quiet on newspaper. I cried a little at the end of the flight, thinking about other things. We had an uneventful trip through Paris and an easy 5 hours to Beirut. Two things about the flight... One, the Gin Tonics were served with Bombay... Two i watched Madagascar 2 and laughed out loud a lot, particularly at one line where the lion says to the zebra, "You've got great taste in music, and terrible taste in friends." I have a friend I think deserves to hear that today...

We arrived at 7 and took a quick tour through Hamra so I could see all the construction and changes, I impressed John with my memory of the city and where I was. If only I had the same skills in Berlin. We went to dinner at Pacifico which was loud and smokey and had really delicious Mexican food At the end they brought a piece of cake with come candles on it and John and Jamie told me that we could celebrate my birthday the whole week.

What friends. it's good to be here. I think it will take some days for me to settle. My head is still spinning from last week, and after the last couple of days, my emotional equilibrium is a little off kilter as well... I just need some space and some beach to settle me down.

It's good to be here. I love the Middle East and I love the Arab culture. This is David braving Arab beer... He said it wasn't bad, he'd try it again. It was no Heffeweiser.

Tomorrow Byblos and a less tired, more vivid description of what's going on. Also, as I fill up the albums I'll post links every few days to pics that I am posting on Facebook.