The first treat came from Friday from those fine ladies at Refugee and Immigrant 
Family Program, my former colleagues in Tacoma, who got themselves arranged in front of a white board decorated with flowers and “Happy Birthday Kristine,” and sent me the photo of their smiling faces. A wonderful gift, to feel connected, loved and remembered. Next, we had splurged on tickets to the Soweto Gospel Choir, at a venue in the hills outside Beirut. Great concert! Then, Saturday morning we learned that Tom’s efforts had won us a key to the roof of the building. Yay—sky! There is rather a tangle of wires and satellite dishes up there, but we can take a couple of chairs up and enjoy a peekaboo view of the sea in two directions and a mountain in the other, and, well, the sky we don’t get from our third floor apartment. Another lovely gift! Then we went to our sweet coffee lady and she gave me a present, too—a lovely scarf. They make so little money at their coffee stall… Such kind people—she is so patient, helping us use our few phrases of Arabic. And she is going to take me to a jeweler across town to see if they can re-solder my wedding ring that was cut off. She doesn’t want me to have to pay the high prices of the local jewelers in our area.
On with the birthday… We went to a store I’d been wanting to check out, and bought two serving dishes from Jordan—pretty! Later, new friend Francoise brought me a lavender cyclamen—wonderful! Then we went to an Armenian restaurant I had been wanting to try. It took a taxi ride and some exploring, but we found it, tucked down a side street with no sign. It is in Gemayze, a picturesque part of town where the architecture has been preserved, and which apparently did not suffer major damage in the civil war or Israeli bombings. Beautiful, ornate older buildings, with a French feel. The restaurant had oriental rugs on the floors, and volcanic stone walls. We had been advised to make reservations at the restaurant. Tom had called and asked for 6:30. They say, “6:30?,” surprised. Tom offers to change to 7:00. “No,” they say, “we will open at 6:30 for you.” We are so unfashionable. Even when we left at 10 to 8 we were still the only ones.
Next day there was a hike to the Shouf Mountains. Only 45 minutes from Beirut, the Shouf are steep and mostly tree lined, plunging to a network of deep ravines. Home to the Druze, a religious group that branched off from Islam long ago but are quite unique. From on high, glimpses of the sea only about 10 miles away. We hiked for several ho
urs (got my tree fix!), along the mountain sides and down to a waterfall. Wildflowers everywhere. 
One highlight was seeing a flock of storks overhead, way high. They looked like old style airplanes, their wings extended but not flapping, as they rode some kind of current through the valley. Even without binoculars you could make them out. Heading back to Europe from Africa.
Back at home, we grab the microphone and head down the hill to T’s school to Skype Ben. He will be leaving for Thailand in a few days. So good to connect with him, and bask in all the connecting from afar.
Family Program, my former colleagues in Tacoma, who got themselves arranged in front of a white board decorated with flowers and “Happy Birthday Kristine,” and sent me the photo of their smiling faces. A wonderful gift, to feel connected, loved and remembered. Next, we had splurged on tickets to the Soweto Gospel Choir, at a venue in the hills outside Beirut. Great concert! Then, Saturday morning we learned that Tom’s efforts had won us a key to the roof of the building. Yay—sky! There is rather a tangle of wires and satellite dishes up there, but we can take a couple of chairs up and enjoy a peekaboo view of the sea in two directions and a mountain in the other, and, well, the sky we don’t get from our third floor apartment. Another lovely gift! Then we went to our sweet coffee lady and she gave me a present, too—a lovely scarf. They make so little money at their coffee stall… Such kind people—she is so patient, helping us use our few phrases of Arabic. And she is going to take me to a jeweler across town to see if they can re-solder my wedding ring that was cut off. She doesn’t want me to have to pay the high prices of the local jewelers in our area.On with the birthday… We went to a store I’d been wanting to check out, and bought two serving dishes from Jordan—pretty! Later, new friend Francoise brought me a lavender cyclamen—wonderful! Then we went to an Armenian restaurant I had been wanting to try. It took a taxi ride and some exploring, but we found it, tucked down a side street with no sign. It is in Gemayze, a picturesque part of town where the architecture has been preserved, and which apparently did not suffer major damage in the civil war or Israeli bombings. Beautiful, ornate older buildings, with a French feel. The restaurant had oriental rugs on the floors, and volcanic stone walls. We had been advised to make reservations at the restaurant. Tom had called and asked for 6:30. They say, “6:30?,” surprised. Tom offers to change to 7:00. “No,” they say, “we will open at 6:30 for you.” We are so unfashionable. Even when we left at 10 to 8 we were still the only ones.
Next day there was a hike to the Shouf Mountains. Only 45 minutes from Beirut, the Shouf are steep and mostly tree lined, plunging to a network of deep ravines. Home to the Druze, a religious group that branched off from Islam long ago but are quite unique. From on high, glimpses of the sea only about 10 miles away. We hiked for several ho
urs (got my tree fix!), along the mountain sides and down to a waterfall. Wildflowers everywhere. One highlight was seeing a flock of storks overhead, way high. They looked like old style airplanes, their wings extended but not flapping, as they rode some kind of current through the valley. Even without binoculars you could make them out. Heading back to Europe from Africa.Back at home, we grab the microphone and head down the hill to T’s school to Skype Ben. He will be leaving for Thailand in a few days. So good to connect with him, and bask in all the connecting from afar.
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