Beirut's sweet bonhomie and generousity of spirit - Financial Times

3 months ago, on the 27th of November, this article was published in FT.
2 articles, 3 months apart... surely something is brewing.

Here, FT captures the uniqueness of Beirut/Lebanon. The generosity of the people, the bonhomie of the spirit... A tradition that survived many wars, and has risen like the phoenix, brighter with every resurrection.

With 35bn dollars of national debt and a declining economy, it seems surreal that such an article could be written - depicting a flame that will burn bright until its final breath.

Of all that which makes us who we are, the mountains, the beaches, the snow, the sand, the springs, the greens, the pines, the cedars... our generosity defines us the most.

As such, a Lebanese is a Lebanese wherever he may be.

Immigration officials at airports the world over tend to be a dour bunch
- repetitive strain from all that rubber-stamping perhaps -
but not in Beirut. Bleary-eyed from having flown in at 4.30am, I
returned from the currency exchange booth to find the two friends I
was travelling with deep in conversation with an immigration official. I
imagined there was a problem of some kind, but as I drew
closer I realised they were bantering, among other things about where to
find the best Lebanese food in town.

"My mother cooks the best," he said in characteristically Mediterranean
fashion. "I invite you to my home." They looked uncertain.
"I mean that," he insisted.

On the flimsiest of pretexts, the baby-faced, khaki-clad official then
waived their visa fees and wished them a pleasant stay.
Beirut's charm offensive starts early.