Bilblos or Jbeil

Monday we began our day teaching, and then spent the afternoon at the monastery catching up on laundry and email. It’s heavenly to have clean clothes again! Nicholas, Linda’s husband, picked us up around 8 pm for dinner at their house. They have three lovely children at AIS, two daughters and a son. Georgia was able to join us and Linda pulled out all the stops, as we say in the US, making a fantastic meal for us topped with a delicious traditional Lebanese desert. I really do need to find a cook book before I head home! Unfortunately, I left my camera at the monastery, but I think Jody got some good pictures that I may be able to add later. Tuesday we again taught in the morning. We’re finally figuring out where the classrooms are located and able to get around without constantly asking questions of everyone. It’s a good feeling. Fr. Freiha sits in the main hallway of the upper school, and is always available to ask directions, but I like not having to rely on others to find my way around. He has a basket, and all students deposit their cell phones in the basket as they enter in the mornings and then pick them up at the end of the day. Since the school is relatively small, especially in the upper grades, that’s not a huge issue. I can’t imagine collecting 8-900 cell phones at BBHS! How would you keep them all straight?! I taught an 11th grade Chemistry class…only 16 students, then on to a 10th grade class with Ms. Maya about Biology. They were giving botony topic presentations, one of which was symbiosis, and I gave them some examples from the Pacific Northwest of the three types of symbiosis. Tomorrow I’ll give them a short pop quiz! We’ll see how well they listened! After a lovely lunch at the monastery, we headed to Biblos, also called Jbail, with Nadine and Jozian. I’m getting so spoiled…meals are always so lovely here. Everyone sits down and there’s rarely fewer than 3 or 4 dishes served, with fruit to follow. The American tradition of eating on the run seems to be absent here altogether. I’m definitely adopting the fruit after meals idea. I just love that. Of course, the melons here are to die for, they’re so delicious. Nadine and Jozian took us to the Lebanese American University first. It has two campus’, one in Beirut, and one outside the city nearer Biblos. It’s lovely there, much quieter, though they are doing a great deal of construction. The University is growing. I was particularly interested in their summer Arabic program. I’ve found I love learning languages, and certainly the best way for me is to be immersed in the culture as I assimilate the unfamiliar sounds and sentence structures. Mr. gave us a tour of the campus, and it is obvious that he takes great pride in his lovely University and its excellent course offerings. The old ruins of Biblos were next on our agenda. Jozian found a marvelous guide at the monument who charmed us with his knowledge and wonderful sense of humor. A former teacher himself, he taught us how to write our names in Phoenician and pointed out many of the most interesting sights. Biblos is considered to be one of, if not the oldest, inhabited cities in the Middle East. Nineteen different cultures conquered, stayed, and then moved on or were ousted by newcomers. Of course, one of the most famous inhabitants was the Phoenicians. At this ancient site they’ve found evidence of the Phoenicians magnificent burial jars everywhere, and inside the jars were the dead, buried in the fetal position and ready to be reborn into the next life. Even the jars were womb shaped. He pointed out the theatre and the tombs, as I recall they found seven tombs on the sight, and six had been robbed. These tombs were made by digging an extremely deep hole for the sarcophagus, then filling the hole with sand and setting the sarcophagus atop this. After the body was sealed inside the sarcophagus, they dug out the sand from underneath and around it, gradually lowering the sarcophagus down inside. I’m not sure how the diggers ever got back out! Maybe they didn’t! Jody played the king, as our guide told us of playing in the ruins as a child and using a local plant to paint themselves as the ancients once did. I think she made a very impressive king! Shopping in the local souk followed, and we all found treasures to bear home before heading back to Ajaltoun and dinner with the parents association. Unfortunately for us, we had no time to return to the monastery to change, so we were feeling a tad dusty and dowdy for such an elegant restaurant, but our hosts were so charming that we were soon laughing and forgetting to be self conscious. Parents who send their children to Catholic schools share a common theme worldwide: their children are their life, and they are interested and concerned about their preparation for later education and for their future. It was a joy chatting with the lovely people at my end of the table. We shared pictures of our kids, talked about the similarities and differences in culture, and what we most enjoyed about Lebanon. Lebanon is a fascinating mix of the old and the new. They are redefining themselves, it seems to me, choosing what parts of western culture they wish to incorporate, but wisely maintaining the pieces of their own culture that give them distinction and make them unique. I could honestly tell them that I love it here, that I love their sense of family and community. They treasure that and I find it so delightful. Moving back to Seattle last year to be closer to my family was one of the best decisions I’ve made, and my only regret being here in Lebanon is that my family, in particular my son, isn’t here to share all this with me.