Thursday, June 12, 2008

Winding down AND Neighborhood photos

Winding down...for now

Tom's school year and my contract are drawing to a close, and our trip to the good old USA (or Babylon, as Cam would call it) is just a couple of weeks away. Speaking of Cam, he will be leaving Gabon where he has spent the last six months (and had malaria), and he and Ben will be meeting us in the US. Yes!

Tom had another trip to Baalbek last weekend, with a group of staff from his school.









It was on Sunday, and I opted to go up into the hills outside Beirut to Meeting instead (1 1/2 hours by taxi and bus; a pilgrimage).


Here are some neighborhood photos. At left is a guy on Bliss St. across from the American University of Beirut (5 min. walk)making one of our favorites: a sage (pronounced "saj")--warm circle of bread filled with just about anything you want. "Cocktail" is our fav = half cheese and half thyme mixture, with added tomatoes, olives, pickles, lettuce.




Below, Tom with the man who sewed him a shirt--yes, a handmade dress shirt, for less than $40. A very sweet man. He and his wife run the shop, where we have had many things altered, just down the street from our apartment. And on the right is Tom, with odd billboard, around the corner from our apartment.



And the very dear lady, Sawsan, also known as Um Salim (mother of Salim), in her tiny coffee shop down the street. She has served Tom a thousand Turkish coffees and glasses of fresh-squeezed orange juice, knows my favorite kind of tea, has been incredibly patient with our stabs at speaking Arabic, offered endless sympathy, enouragment, caring and and who has become our friend .


,










And the entrance to our apartment building (you reach inside the outer door to unlatch it), and our steadfast Turkish concierge, Mohammed, who kisses me without fail each morning and evening, three times on the cheeks, as I leave the building and return. He does usually smile!



Finally, a neighborhood purchase: Tom needed a new pair of jeans, and here is the brand he bought:



No comments: