A Land of Polar Opposites

Hello everyone,

Christian here. Again, a very tired, drained Christian, but it is still me nonetheless.

I have arrived safely in Beirut! Praise God, His steady hand watched over me and after over 32 hours of travel, I am so so happy to say I finally made it.

It feels fantastic to be here. Landing at Rafic Hariri International Airport, you just see bright azure blue water as you are descending, and for a second you get nervous until you see the runway appear at the very last moment. It's probably one of the most interesting descents I've ever experienced in my time flying.

Straight off the bat, one thing I noticed that hasn't changed is that Lebanon is still a country of polar opposites.

Take said descent, for example. As we are heading down, you glance out the window to see giant, streamlined, modern skyscrapers greet you eye to eye, while less than a minute later, you take another glance and see stacks and stacks of dilapidated, bombed-out apartments crowding together like overgrown untended weeds.

When you land, strutting around you are beautiful Arab muslim women, covered head to toe but also adorned with expensive jewelry and handbags and acessories, followed by a lowly African or Southeast Asian slave. Yes, they still have "slaves" here for sale, on the market, for the wealthy to buy. They're not called slaves, they're called helpers, but their backbreaking constant tasks essentially demean them to the primal level of slaves. It's a frightening exploitation of the poor and desperate by the wealthy and powerful, but it just serves to reinforce my original point.

Or take the idea of sectarianism and division within this country. Lebanon has long prided itself on being a secular capital in the Middle East, the "Paris of the Middle East," if you will. They pride themselves on being liberal, open and accepting of all.  They boast a wild nightlife scene, reputably one of the best on this side of the Atlantic. They have delved further into the Seven Deadly Sins than any of their Middle Eastern neighbors.

Yet ask any average person on the street what they thought of fellow passerby, and you'd likely get answers filled with anger, indifference, or what Arabs refer to as 'haram' (forbidden or shameful). They might ask what business a fully-wrapped Muslim woman has in a majority-Christian neighborhood. She should be embarassed, they might remark. Or they might make a snide comment about how they don't feel safe where they are living now because Sunnis or Shi'ites also occupy the same neighborhood and, as you can imagine, its not a fun feeling never knowing when the next bomb will drop on you. For a country that prides itself and markets itself as a progressive model for religious and social tolerance on a number of issues, it seems the people of Lebanon themselves never got that particular memo.

Or simply take the differences in cars people drive. First off, many people don't even drive cars. Many ride those tiny, sketchy multi-seater mopeds you see in parts of Southeast Asia and Africa, crammed with as many passengers as they can kill take with them safely. Others drive beat-up pieces of ancient junk that look like they haven't been touched since World War II ended. Still others, and this is just a select few, own multiple cars or a luxury car to cruise around in during Beirut's hellish daytime traffic.

All these things hit me at various points throughout the day, and I just thought this would be a cool platform to share this on. Today was just a relaxed day for me to get settled in, so jotting some thoughts down really got my brain juices flowing and my creative thirst buds fired up.

See you all tomorrow. Keep reading, my friends.

Love, Christian (day 2/3)