Since there are no formal addresses, when you give someone directions you give area and landmarks. For our apartment you say its in Hamra (district), on rue Basra (Basra Street), across from the Mayflower Hotel, Chatila building (no sign--how do they know??), third floor. People seem to know all the landmarks—and it’s a big city. Our apartment is on a quiet block, with the Mayflower, its Duke of Wellington Pub, apartment buildings and an office building. There are trees in pots in front of the Mayflower, and several in the ground in front of our building and another apartment building. You notice the trees because there aren’t a whole lot of them. The Mayflower sports flags from Canada, China, Japan, Britain, Germany, Norway, France, the UN, Lebanon (in the middle, over the entrance), EU, Jordan, Australia, USA, Bahrain, Italy, Iraq and Kuwait, in that order. We got our DSL Internet connection by approaching the hotel, as we found we were reading their signal. Lots faster than applying through the phone company. We had to sit the computer desk on top of a sheet of wood because the wires aren’t properly grounded and we kept getting shocked when touching the back of the computer… Our building has seven floors, with two apartments on each floor.
On the adjacent street is a bookstore, a seamstress, women’s nightgown and undergarment store, barber shop, apartments, another hotel (The Napoleon, catering to a mostly middle eastern clientele), a flower shop, and the occasional feral cat. They are small and gentle; some people feed them. On the other side of the street is an upscale bakery and chocolatier, with the best croissants in town, so they say. Next to it is a snack shop selling spinach or meat filled pastries like samosas, and flat bread with spices or olives. And a man or his wife, in a tiny place selling Arabic coffee, Nescafe or herb tea—for 30 cents. Several other stores offer a wide variety of things—the other day I went into a store with jewelry and watches in the window and found a cheap Chinese telephone, then thought to ask for a 110-220 volt transformer and they had that too! Stores are small and crowded, and occasionally dark when the power goes out.
We have three large-ish food/department stores within a 6 block radius: Smith’s, catering to expats and carrying Lebanese wines from the Bekaa Valley (not bad!), the Co-op, which is not a co-op, and Idriss, which won’t accept any paper bills if they are torn or taped (found out hard way). All three go on and on—you have to peer round corners to locate hidden aisles with more goods and whole floors you might have missed. I was so fortunate to have the wife of the Assistant Principal, also a “trailing spouse,” who has been here for 6 years, to show me around these places. Let’s see, at the store, there are dozens of yummy cheeses to choose from, pastas, canned goods, several varieties of pita bread, laundry soaps, locally made foil and plastic wrap, unrefrigerated eggs--products from Lebanon, Egypt, China and France most often. Some things you’d think might be cheap, like olive oil and almonds, bear prices similar to the US.
At a pharmacy, as in many countries you can go in and tell the pharmacist your symptoms and they will discuss options with you and give you medicines. Thankfully the local ones seem to offer multiple brands of 50 SPF sunscreen (I chose the cheapest French-made one)—I didn’t know it came in 50.
I have arranged to have one 19 liter water bottle delivered each week, for $3. Looks like it won’t be enough—we’re four days into the week and running low. But you can buy water at every store, so I’ll supplement with smaller bottles when needed. We are not sure if we should be brushing our teeth or washing vegetables with the tap water…so far so good.
Today I washed and hung out the sheets. Out the kitchen window of our fourth floor apartment, after wiping the lines clean of city dirt. For one as leery of heights as me, and as clumsy, it was an experience. But things dried better there than on the drying rack on the balcony, and I didn’t lose anything to the alley below--hurrah.
The kitchen sink (granite?) is quite flat—no, I think the drain is actually a little higher than the sides.
Tom makes coffee in a small pot on the stove (alot), mixing powdered beans with sugar and water, letting it come to a boil three times and then settle. See photo of Tom is his native habitat.
On the adjacent street is a bookstore, a seamstress, women’s nightgown and undergarment store, barber shop, apartments, another hotel (The Napoleon, catering to a mostly middle eastern clientele), a flower shop, and the occasional feral cat. They are small and gentle; some people feed them. On the other side of the street is an upscale bakery and chocolatier, with the best croissants in town, so they say. Next to it is a snack shop selling spinach or meat filled pastries like samosas, and flat bread with spices or olives. And a man or his wife, in a tiny place selling Arabic coffee, Nescafe or herb tea—for 30 cents. Several other stores offer a wide variety of things—the other day I went into a store with jewelry and watches in the window and found a cheap Chinese telephone, then thought to ask for a 110-220 volt transformer and they had that too! Stores are small and crowded, and occasionally dark when the power goes out.
We have three large-ish food/department stores within a 6 block radius: Smith’s, catering to expats and carrying Lebanese wines from the Bekaa Valley (not bad!), the Co-op, which is not a co-op, and Idriss, which won’t accept any paper bills if they are torn or taped (found out hard way). All three go on and on—you have to peer round corners to locate hidden aisles with more goods and whole floors you might have missed. I was so fortunate to have the wife of the Assistant Principal, also a “trailing spouse,” who has been here for 6 years, to show me around these places. Let’s see, at the store, there are dozens of yummy cheeses to choose from, pastas, canned goods, several varieties of pita bread, laundry soaps, locally made foil and plastic wrap, unrefrigerated eggs--products from Lebanon, Egypt, China and France most often. Some things you’d think might be cheap, like olive oil and almonds, bear prices similar to the US.
At a pharmacy, as in many countries you can go in and tell the pharmacist your symptoms and they will discuss options with you and give you medicines. Thankfully the local ones seem to offer multiple brands of 50 SPF sunscreen (I chose the cheapest French-made one)—I didn’t know it came in 50.
I have arranged to have one 19 liter water bottle delivered each week, for $3. Looks like it won’t be enough—we’re four days into the week and running low. But you can buy water at every store, so I’ll supplement with smaller bottles when needed. We are not sure if we should be brushing our teeth or washing vegetables with the tap water…so far so good.
Today I washed and hung out the sheets. Out the kitchen window of our fourth floor apartment, after wiping the lines clean of city dirt. For one as leery of heights as me, and as clumsy, it was an experience. But things dried better there than on the drying rack on the balcony, and I didn’t lose anything to the alley below--hurrah.
The kitchen sink (granite?) is quite flat—no, I think the drain is actually a little higher than the sides.
Tom makes coffee in a small pot on the stove (alot), mixing powdered beans with sugar and water, letting it come to a boil three times and then settle. See photo of Tom is his native habitat.
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