We had an early start, today, meeting at the school by 7:30am to board a coach for a tour up North. Many of the teachers joined us, and we
had a marvelous day of it! Our first stop was Tripoli, where we stopped for breakfast. Of course, Jodie, Sheila and I had Lebanese pastries with Georgia, though I've never seen Georgia eat one. It must be why she stays so slim! Maya found a Lebanese cookbook for me (in English) that Georgia said she also uses, so now I'm excited to try making some of the
marvelous food we've all been tasting these last two weeks. After returning to the bus, we traveled up to a Maronite monastery. Fr. Andre explained to me that the people of Lebanon relate to St. Isaiah (I may have this name wrong; he usually holds a sword in hand) and the virgin Mary both; that they are opposites, in a sense,
but they need both the strength of the sword and the gentleness of the mother in this war torn land. We lunched in Fr. Andre's vil
lage, after visiting a lovely church where the rosary was firs
t said. The church was said to be devoted to the "lady of the washing", since women used to come far and wide to the little church to wash their sins away. We visited another lovely little chapel built from stone
s by a woman whose son was dying. She prayed to the saint to have her son spared for 10 years, and in return she would build the chapel. She did so, and her son was spared, though he did die just ten years later. Lunch was
a fun filled affair, with plenty of food (of course) and dancing! Everyone joined in, even Sheila! On our way back from the far North, we stopped in the port again to take a little ferry ride. Tripoli is ideally positioned as a
sea port, and Syria covets it. Over the years, this has caused strife within the region, but all is calm at present. We sleepily boarded the bus after our ferry ride, and said our teary goodbyes when we returned late that evening to school. We'll miss you, Lebanon, but most especially we'll miss the beautiful, generous, and warm hearted people who made our stay so memorable. I can't imagine a more lovely gift than the gift of their friendship.
We had an early start, today, meeting at the school by 7:30am to board a coach for a tour up North. Many of the teachers joined us, and we 
had a marvelous day of it! Our first stop was Tripoli, where we stopped for breakfast. Of course, Jodie, Sheila and I had Lebanese pastries with Georgia, though I've never seen Georgia eat one. It must be why she stays so slim! Maya found a Lebanese cookbook for me (in English) that Georgia said she also uses, so now I'm excited to try making some of the 
marvelous food we've all been tasting these last two weeks. After returning to the bus, we traveled up to a Maronite monastery. Fr. Andre explained to me that the people of Lebanon relate to St. Isaiah (I may have this name wrong; he usually holds a sword in hand) and the virgin Mary both; that they are opposites, in a sense,
but they need both the strength of the sword and the gentleness of the mother in this war torn land. We lunched in Fr. Andre's village, after visiting a lovely church where the rosary was firs
t said. The church was said to be devoted to the "lady of the washing", since women used to come far and wide to the little church to wash their sins away. We visited another lovely little chapel built from stone
s by a woman whose son was dying. She prayed to the saint to have her son spared for 10 years, and in return she would build the chapel. She did so, and her son was spared, though he did die just ten years later. Lunch was 
sea port, and Syria covets it. Over the years, this has caused strife within the region, but all is calm at present. We sleepily boarded the bus after our ferry ride, and said our teary goodbyes when we returned late that evening to school. We'll miss you, Lebanon, but most especially we'll miss the beautiful, generous, and warm hearted people who made our stay so memorable. I can't imagine a more lovely gift than the gift of their friendship.
No comments:
Post a Comment