Thankfully, my dwindling bank account is the only thing that's keeping me from extending my visit. That, plus the fact that the moment I get home I have to start house hunting in Washington and getting ready for the return to student life. The closer I get to Georgetown, the more excited I get about finally starting this new phase in my life. This little sojourn has been a good transition for me.
Anyhow, back to the news at hand. I arrived in Beirut on Thursday evening. We had a nice big Italian dinner with the family. My cousin Minas had come home from Venice for his father's funeral. It was nice to be able to enjoy our family together despite the sad circumstances for our reunion. Plus, dinner was delicious. We had an endless stream of seafood appetizers, including squid in a black ink sauce (yum), raw fish (delicious), sauteed mushrooms and eggplants and three pastas to top it off. One with a fresh tomato sauce, another with ground pork and the third with sardines, which I'm happy to report was delicious.
Yesterday, we headed for the new downtown Beirut, which has been well-restored since I was last here in 1999. The streets are lined with cafes and expensive clothing and art stores. The old homes that were ravaged in the war have been refurbished, repainted and retouched with a bit of an artificial flair (for my city-beat reporting friends think Olsen Co. designs of "urban villages.") Still, it's easy on the eyes.
In the evening we had one last family meal together at an Aleppo-style restaurant, where I even tried eating fried sardines whole. Quite tasty, but I couldn't bring myself to eat the head and the tail, despite everyone's urging. That just seems wrong. Minas and his wife Arsine left late last night.
Today Arda and I will do some walking tours in nearby neighborhoods. Tomorrow we'll be at church in the morning to mark the seventh day since my uncle's funeral and afterward we'll head up to the mountain village, where Arda and her family has their summer house.
I fly to Greece early Monday morning (4 a.m. - yuck) for my last stop of this world tour. I guess that just means I'll have to go out with a bang. Look out Grecian islands...
And before I forget: a big CONGRATULATIONS to my friends Mimi and Mick in Australia. Mimi gave birth to their first child, the beautiful Alice Eve Cook, on May 28 and weighed in at 8 pounds 5 ounces after 13 (!!) hours of labor. Mimi is a good friend of mine from way back in middle school days, so it's extra amazing that someone I've known since we were what? 12? now has a DAUGHTER. Yay! Look how cute she is:
3 comments:
Is this Mimi, as in Mimi from UNI who lived around the corner from Bernard and the Johnsons?! No way!
The very same Mimi. Awesome, huh? We're getting old, friends.
That is one super cute baby! Look at all that hair!
My babies never had that much hair at birth. Or at a year old either!
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