Beirut on a Budget

To distract myself from certain unaliable facts, I've decided to write up a blog entry on where to go in Beirut if you find yourself with limited funds.  I'll update the list it as I find more things to add...

Where to Eat

Mezzo di Pasta

Very frequently I go to Mezzo and get their large combo meal for 12,500 lires (or $8.33) and that is usually enough to last me all day.  True story.  For the large combo you get a big helping of their fresh pasta, a small, delicious chocolate crepe & a drink.  Also pita bread if you know to ask for it.  They have a wide range of pastas and sauces.  My personal favorite meal is to get the Indy sauce with cheese, which results in a spicy, delicious, almost curry-like mac & cheese.  They're open late (until midnight every day, at least at the Gemmayzeh branch) and they also have excellent 'Happy Hour' meal deals between 4 and 8.

Feyy

In Gemmyzeh, this restaurant actually shares the same building as Mezzo, which is how I found it.  Cheap middle eastern & mediterranian

sandwiches & deserts are available, and they too have excellent 'Happy Hour' deals.  Their food ain't half bad either.

BarBar

Everyone knows this one, but still, it has to be mentioned...cheap & open late, it's a great choice if you're in the Hamra area and craving a snack.

Random Mankoushe Stands

Mankoushe (prounounced Man-a-eesh for singular or Man-u-shee for plural as far as I've heard) is a type of middle eastern pizza.  Like with pizza, you can frequently get a variety of toppings, but unlike pizza in the US, it will only cost you a few bucks for a whole one.

Where to Stay

Hotel Al Shahbaa

Ok so it's pretty much run by the Lebanese version of Michael Scott (and I mean that in the nicest way possible.  Like Michael Scott, the guy has a heart of gold.  But he can also be strange, to say the least and he will awkwardly try to flirt with you).  If you stay here, you won't have a ton of privacy, the other people running the place frequently walk around in very little clothing and there isn't air conditioning.  Why, you might ask, should you then stay at Al Shahbaa?  Well like I said, the guy running it is very nice.  I had a simple, but large room to myself for only $20.  Dorm beds only cost $12 and if you're ever in dire straights the guy will work with you to find someplace to sleep, even if you have little or no money.  You'll also get free tea or coffee in the morning.  But best of all, there's free access to more-than-adaquete internet.

Talal Hotel

For $13 you get a "dorm" bed in a room with only 3 beds *AND* you get air conditioning.  The people are pretty nice here, and let me store some bags overnight for free when I wasn't staying there.  They might or might not give you free tea or coffee, but it's certainly more comfortable than Al Shahbaa.

The Mayflower Hotel

For those with larger budgets or who just want to have a treat (like I did on my birthday), you may want to stay at The Mayflower.  It's renowned for its former guests- Graham Greene, Russian spies & foreign correspondents during the war- than its service, but it's nice.  I wouldn't say it necessarily deserves it's 4 stars, but it's a still a pretty nice find for $70 (as it often is on booking.com's website).  The breakfast buffet, nice bathrooms, air conditioning, & free excellent internet probably make it worth it alone.

Hotel Amada

Located a 30 minute walk away from Byblos, this gay-friendly hotel & hostel is worth staying at if you want to spend more than a one night exploring Byblos without emptying your wallet.

Couchsurfing

Couchsurfing is always of great benefit to adventurous travellers on a budget.  Be careful though!  I've found there is a higher-than-average number of creepy males lurking on Lebanon's.

Where To Go

AUB

This campus is lush, and definitely worth a visit for it's free archeological museum & the nearby street art that famously surrounds it.

The Pigeon Rocks

Gorgeous, and for less than $10 you can score a boat ride around them.

Nasawiya

This lovely feminist cafe takes payments in donations only.  They're also currently selling 3 t-shirts for only 10,000 lire (approx. $6.50!).  They frequently hold cool movie screenings & events and they have an excellent library.

At Amada Hotel near Byblos

I have a lot to update on here, but in any case, I'm outside Byblos in a town called Fidar staying at an awesome gay-friendly hotel with no address (literally, half the businesses in Lebanon have no address).  Spending quality time recovering from sickness and being broke.  Send good thoughts my way please!

Reflections: Part 1

I've spent most of today sick and either having bizarre, delirious dreams or thinking about what to write.  I'm upset at myself for being sick during the last week, and because we're only really getting things together for photography club now, and yet I feel so sick I can barely function.  The only reason I have internet right now is because I needed to check to see if my bank had replied to my e-mail (they had!  Yay I probably won't be homeless!)

I wanted to say something I hadn't been able to fully contemplate, but I've failed.  I'll have to wait until tomorrow hopefully.

I'm not ready for the program to end.

I'm not ready to let go of my students.

And this is made further complicated by the fact I have no idea what I'm going to do next week.

SO THIRSTY

But still fasting.  Staying strong!

Rainbows & Hearts, Etc...

Here are the good things:

*I've finally actually made a friend here!  I'm not a 12 year old girl and I'll survive as an island, but it's nice to be appreiciated.  There are several people here that I've hung out with and enjoyed meeting, but when it came time to break off into groups I was sick of being the one all by myself.  So.  One an extremely personal level, that's been good.

*My hair's finally been dyed!  I was going to wait until the program need and then dye it something crazy, but I got so sick of the multiple layers of gross bleached hair (after the pink washed out) and my friend wanted to dye it.  So.  El humdalilah, it's now dark red.

*The program is almost over.  I just have to keep thinking about that.  This is a good thing as well as a bad, because I am exhausted both physically and emotionally.  I need a break.  I can only hope I will be able to get that.  Even a hostel bed would be better than our pads and ridiculously hard, giant pillows.  Not that I don't love them as memories of my time here, but still.

*Other than the previously mentioned incident,  my time in Beirut was rejuvenating.  We hung out at a feminist centers/cafe to watch two documentaries which I'll talk about later (even more entries!) and they were selling a book about lgbt relationships in Lebanon, which of course I ended up buying.  If I end up staying in Beirut, I will definitely be going back there.  I have this fantasy of staying in Beirut with a job at such a place.  It's nice to think about.

*I contacted my financial advisor so hopefully I will have money soon.

*Ramadan has been amazing.  Mood swings, dehydration, and hunger aside, it's definitely been worth it to experience.  It's long been my personal opinion that it's stupid to do stuff just because someone tells you to, and I'm including God(s) in that.  But I think the reasons behind Ramadan are beautiful.  I will hopefully never know what it's like to be really, truly live in poverty.  But to experience even this small inkling of it has been eye opening.  At any moment if it became too much, I could always buy a bottle of water or some food.  I never did, but it was there as an option if I needed it.  That option isn't there for a huge population of the world, many of whom live in places that have ridiculously high temperatures.  Also, it's been great to fast along with everyone else here.

Darkness & Despair, Etc...

Everything's kind of twisted up in my head so I think I will try and make several posts to explain the situation.

Here are the things that are worrying me:

* first of all, it is really difficult to imagine the program ending in just 4 days.   I feel like I haven't done enough for these kids.  I feel like my first class is bored and my second class does't care enough and I feel like if I had more time I might be able to figure out how to ramp up their energy, but under the current curriculum requirements for this coming week and with the lack of time available, I can't imagine much changing.  I feel like I'm a really good teacher when it ones to reading stories or articles and then forcing them to analyze said articles and figure out the meaning of words they don't know.  I can definitely tell they're engaged and their attention is on me.  I've come up with good vocabulary games.  They seem happy to discuss their readings and even happier reading.  But when it comes to things like having them sit quietly and write essays or even just simple sentences about their weekends, I'm totally shit.  They say no, they talk loudly to each other in Arabic, and no matter how much I yell at them I only ever get a marginal and temporary control over them.

It is also sad to think of everyone here leaving and going off on my own.  I'm only really close with one person here, but that doesn't mean I'm ready to leave the safety and security of the roof over my head and my 7 roommates to try and make it work via couchsurfing and hosteling.

Furthermore, I don't know if I'm getting a sub letter next month yet, and I'm in increasingly dire straights financially (I've had some stuff stolen during a recent trip to Beirut, but I don't want to talk about it.  I didn't even tell my other volunteers.  I acted stupidly).

*Photography class was pretty much a complete failure.  My co-teacher decided he was making a documentary about the 1948 refugees living in the camp and most of these children don't speak English and I don't speak Arabic and there are 2 cameras (1 broke) and like 20 children and I am not a good enough teacher to make this work.  I tried to make them interview each other and it failed.  I have to hope they at least marginally enjoyed some of the time they spent taking pictures, but even that seems like a long shot in light of their bored and disinterested expressions.

*I'm fasting and I've really enjoyed it, but I can't turn down a free meal if I'm THIS badly off financially (and I really, really am) so I think when school starts tomorrow I will have to start secretly consuming food away from the children.  This is a mixed bag.  I've really enjoyed feeling like a part of something by fasting, but I've also had quite a few mood swings that I know have been caused by lack of food and water, and furthermore, my sleep schedule is complete shit when I'm waking up or staying up until 3 a.m. to have breakfast and so when shit goes down, my energy and emotional strength dips violently.

*I have no idea where I am going to go or what I am going to do in a little over a week.  No.  Idea.  Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.