A Day at the Beach

We spent a lovely morning at the beach with Rania and her two children, Michael and Nadia. The days have been unseasonably hot here, even for Lebanon, and a bit muggy, so we were all looking forward to cooling off in the Mediterranean. Jody laughingly sprinted into the water, kawabunga style! I dove in and Sheila, who hadn't planned to get all the way in at all, found herself immersed in moments. The water was heavenly, and we all swam and talked and floated, enjoying the gentle rollers and the beautiful clarity of the water. So relaxing! Jody and Nadia had a ball rolling down the sand into the water, and I'm not sure we'd have gotten Sheila out of the water if we hadn't had another event we were attending. I could have happily splashed around all day. Interstingly, beaches in Lebanon are all private, and you need to be a member of the beach to be able to use it. Lucky for us, Rania's family is a member of one close by, and generously offered to take us there. She's a delightful person, an active parent at the school, involved in the twinning committee, the committee dedicated to creating and maintaining a connection between our two schools. She's promised to try to get us to the beach again, and if the weather holds, and we can find the time, we all really want to take her up on that offer! Such a generous and kind person! We returned to the monastery refreshed and relaxed, ready to enjoy our afternoon. After a quick shower and clean up, we headed to another family's home. They have two sons at the school; Joseph and Leo . Tony and Luna, the parents, have a lovely villa overlooking the Mediterranean Sea and we enjoyed another amazing luncheon fit for royalty, all lovingly prepared by Luna. Luna is one of the administrators in the elementary school. Her husband Tony, now retired, is a builder. They're doing all the work on their lovely home themselves, and the care they've taken is certainly obvious! It's beautiful! Fr. Andre, Fr. Johnny and Georgia joined us. The previous night I mentioned to Georgia that my son is a particularly fine muscian, and that I hoped to find some Lebanese music to take home for him. She arrived at the party with several CD's which we played (and danced to!) on the patio. They were all fantastic, so I'm sure I'll have no trouble finding the right music for John! After dinner we played a rousing game of Guesstures . Their youngest son, Leo, was obviously the best at it, easily pantomiming what he wanted the others to guess. Jody dove into the game with enthusiasm, and Sheila surprised me by having hidden talents in this area! Who knew? We returned to the monastery later that evening after a relaxing and most enjoyable day.