Blogging Beirut

Its midnight. Friday night. Beirut is deserted. East, west, left, right... It's deserted. Gemmayze is empty. Brummana is full. Reminds me of Israel's war in 2006. A light of hope flickers red - Torino's open. The red is soothing - you'll never hear about soothing red in books. I step in to a full house. The usual bartenders, aging but forever young, man the bar. A rosee please - i'm not sure why i drink rosee, perhaps because I'm not much of a drinker. Lots of 'ajehnib' (foreigners) speaking in multitudes of tongues, mostly journalists drinking away their existential ponderings. I look around, a man catches my eye, he tips his hat to me - a picture on an LP. An old friend walks in. He doesn't remember me. In 2006 we exchanged anecdotes of body counts and Israeli brutality - he's a cameraman. Tonight he's cheery, making money covering a different kind of war, perhaps by the look on his face a peaceful war - if there ever were such a thing. Fighting has all but died down in the capital (Beirut). He kisses the blonde next to me - hi keefik ca va? Torino closes its wooden doors. It's going to be a long night.

(video to follow)

tags: torino express, gemmayze, beirut, lebanon, lebanese, video, film

-finkployd- Winding Down on Blogging Beirut

Updated 23:59 Lebanon Time

- Beirut sleeps tonight. No fighting. No gunfire. All is calm. Sleep tight.

- Most PSP offices are now under the control of the Lebanese Army. Jumblat has ordered the main PSP HQ to be evacuated.

- West Bekaa & Rashaya are now under the control of the opposition.

- Heavy gunfire in Aley, 3 reported dead. Major fighting between Jumblat's PSP (not PlayStation Portable) militia and Hizballah.

- Saida, Hariri's hometown, is under the control of the opposition.

- Reporting from City Mall: Open, but with reduced activity. Most shops were closing at around 8 PM. Lots of traffic in and around cafes (Dunkin Donuts / Moka More), with laptops open refreshing pages for updates.

- Reporting from ABC: Only 2 parking levels are open. Not much activity, but around 70% of shops open. Virgin is closed. Most shops were closing down by late afternoon (7 PM). I'm not sure about the theaters though, didn't check. Paul had closed the kitchen at around 6 PM.

(more of today's news after the jump)

what to do, what to do, it's 4 PM, thursday afternoon...

i slip into the local lounge to find an audience to a 20 inch LCD, with Nasrallah speeching.



a rosee please, munching on a pastry from paul, with a camera in hand photographing the scene.

it's a beautiful day out, but people are inside.

a lotto seller just passed the fascia... what a country.

i love lebanon.

(more photos after the jump)

by 3 PM, the office was deserted... so i made myself a nescafe and waited it out till 5 - the internet was exceptionally fast.

5 PM, hunger strikes. close shop, head to the car. change into shorts, shirt, and birks - the chirping of birds was deafening... where'd they all come from?

where to eat? it's 5 PM... let's see if hamra's open.

3 minutes and i'm on bliss, at charlie's hotdogs (best hotdog in town).

ketchup, mayo, and a bit of mustard - oh and a pinch of onions pls.

yummmm, ok what's next... into hamra, past gefinor, and out onto bab idriss.

4 minutes and i'm in gemmayze. i drop into paul for a pastry - a raisin swirl?

get back into the car, and drive right up to spinout for a drink.

i park on the side of the street, and here i am writing to tell you that everything i've just done would have been impossible on a normal day in traffic jammed beirut.

what took me all of 7 minutes of driving, would have taken over an hour.

i thus dub today: BEIRUT TWILIGHT ZONE

tags: beirut, lebanon, lebanese, general strike, twilight zone, may 7 2008, story, anecdote, charlie's hotdogs, paul, pastry, raisin, diet coke with lemon, onions, mustard, ketchup, mayo, driving, cruising, traffic jam, government vs oppposition

-finkployd- Beirut Twilight Zone on Blogging Beirut

Mo Kabbani - a dude in the government - just announced that he can convert the idle Qoleiat 'Airport' into an International Airport in 24 hours, in the wake of the Opposition blockade of the Beirut International Airport.

FACT: It's near impossible for civilian aircraft to land at the Qoleiat Airport without a final descent over Syria proper.

hehe that should be fun

(map with qoleiat airport after the jump)

most news agencies are writing about the clashes between the government and the opposition

but that's not news, it's what everybody expected...

... Blogging Beirut, however, is reporting the real news: the empty streets and lovely 5 minute drive to work that would have taken 30 minutes on any other day.



Dora: the busiest street in Beirut

(photos of charles helou, port, and downtown after the jump)

(more photos after the jump)

Last year, the Chabrouh Dam in Faraya was officially activated.

Last week - it's good to know Maxime Chaya - I received these photos, showing the dam filling up for the first time.



The 63-meter high dam has a storage capacity of some 8 million cubic meters.

(more photos and info after the jump)