The View from Sunday Morning

While this is an evening picture, through these doors is where I go pretty much every morning to have my coffee.

 We have a very large space on the balcony and have finally put table and chairs on it. We do have a small view of the Mediterranean, these are the views I enjoy:

Our closest neighbor (not in the building) raises pigeons. He always seems to have just fed them right before I get out on  the deck. It is nice to hear their song in the morning.

Next to him is the man who has chickens. His rooster is very loud but it's starting to not bother me anymore. I would usually hear the rooster right after the call to prayer that happens somewhere around 4:00 - 4:30 in the  morning but I don't seem to hear that anymore either. I must be acclimatizing...

To the other side is our street. I may have posted this already.  It really doesn't have a name and we really don't have an address. Yes, it's hard to tell the taxi driver where we live...

Right in front of us is this awesome tree. All kinds of birds love it and thus, so does Pumpkin. Call it kitty TV.

This is truly my favorite part of the view. Every morning it seems we have some marine influence that the sun will burn away soon and here is where you can see it best. I love the tree on the top of building. Delaney says she likes this tree as well.

This is also the first morning I've opened the balcony doors and the temperature is just a little cooler than inside. Maybe the 90 degree 90% humidity is finally starting to back off a little.

Second, the Heights of Lebanon (sorry it took so long to post)

After we traveled to the depths, Jeita Caves, we went to a city north of Beirut called Jounieh (Joun meaning Bay, and Jounieh meaning city by the bay). From there, we took a trip up the mountain.  Here's a picture of us starting up:

As you can see, Tim and Delaney were excited!
Here is a view of the mountain we would be going up to:

Yes, all of the way up. We actually went past people's homes and could actually see inside. It was a little weird. This is Janna sitting next to me:

 The girls loved the ride! Then we got to the top. It took about 15-20 minutes.

As you can see, we were quite a ways up.  BUT NO! We had a little more to go.

Then we finally got to the top where there is this large catholic church.

And in front of it is the "Lady of Lebanon". When we went to see her we saw many people wearing too short shorts or tank tops had to cover up with a scarf for respect.  Here is a picture of the statue outside of the gift shop.

The story goes that when the built her, she had her hands turned to Jounieh which is a predominately christian community. When the workers returned in the morning, her hands were turned toward Beirut  instead. They then turned her back in the "right" direction and when they came back the next day she was turned again.  They decided that the lady wanted to protect not just the Christians of Lebanon but ALL of Lebanon so they left her that way. This is why this statue of the Virgin Mary is called the Lady of Lebanon. Yes, we climbed the steps up to almost the top (it was very crowded) and these are the views we saw:

This is the view of the Lady herself from below

Many were quiet and contemplative here. Under the Lady was a sanctuary where many were praying. Tim went in and made an offering in our brother-in-law Dan's name because we knew he would want to do that if he were there.  What an incredible ride to the top of Lebanon!

First The Depths of Lebanon

How do you describe the most beautiful place you have ever seen?  This is my dilemma as I try and post about the Jeita Grotto.  Jeita is truly a hidden gem of the world.  Most Americans have never even heard of this place unless they happen to travel to Lebanon. (Myself included) Last Sunday our school provided a trip to this place and to say that it was spectacular would be a great understatement!!!  Jeita really should be one the 7 wonders of the natural world.  The first cave that we visited was over 500 meters long, with a concrete path directing you over the length of the cave.  At its height it is between¼ to ½ a mile from ceiling to floor.    I imagine that you could visit this place a hundred times and still see something different each time.  The second cave is much smaller, but just as dramatic because you explore this cave by boat.  The boat ride probably takes 15 minutes and really gives you a different perspective.  The water is so cleat that you can see all the way to bottom in many places.  Simply put this place is amazing and would warrant a trip to Lebanon just to see it!!!

This is the lower cave that we explored second

                                         This is the upper cave showing the concrete path

Upper cave formation

Another picture of Lower Cave

This is how we traveled to the caves from the parking lot

 These pictures came from the internet because pictures are not allowed to be taken inside the caves....More pics to follow...

So much to blog about!

Midge writing:
So…where to begin? We flew in at got home around 9:00pm. I think we were cursed with toddlers on our flights. Yes, screaming kids all around us.  It was challenging to sleep but we survived. At SeaTac the lady that checked in all of our baggage and “travel kitty” actually gave us a hug before we left! Security? NOT so much! So, I’m walking through the x-ray with Pumpkin and this security lady says, “You need to take your X-Box out of your carry on” I gave her a look like “are you kidding??” and she said nevermind we’ve got it. Janna and I were randomly hand swabbed. Aren’t we lucky! THEN, we go through security in Paris…I don’t think we’ll be invited there again. Yes, the Parisians do not like us! They made us take EVERYTHING electronic out of our bags. Anything from I-pods to the X-Box. I finished one carry on and she said, “all done?” and I’d say, no, there’s more. THEN when we were done with that, I said that we have a cat and the lady said what?? And I said, “A cat, you know, mew, mew??” and she gave me this look like you’ve got to be kidding me! Suffice to say, we took a long time to repack all of our carry ons.  When we got to Beirut we were hoping to not go through security…PLEASE NO!! We finished our visa paperwork and lo and behold, a security check…OH BOY!! We walk up with all nine duffles and all of our carry ons and the guy says “just one bag” then his supervisor says, “no just go through” They didn’t even look at the paperwork for the cat! That was just what we needed. As we came out of the airport there were probably 12 people waiting for all of us. They were very well organized and helpful. I’m loving how friendly and helpful everyone is at ACS!!

Pumpkin has started to adjust and yes, her nose is healing. She was pushing up against her carrier quite a bit.

Tim writing:
Beirut is a city of contrasts, from the very wealthy to extremely poor.  As many of you know Lebanon was in a 16 year civil war and the city still bears many of the scars.  It is not uncommon see buildings with mortar and bullet holes.  Yet you walk 20 feet and you will see a modern building that rivals anything in the states.  Parts of the city are very beautiful and just seem to encourage you to take a picture, yet walk 20 feet and garbage is left unattended and graffiti covers a wall.  Shopping is from the very modern to buying your simple groceries in a tiny shop that may hold only a couple of people.  It is not uncommon to see a family of five on a scooter and right next to them a brand new Mercedes.  We have noticed that the Lebanese people want to be seen and they want to live life.  The city is hectic, but some things just have to be taken slowly, like dinner.  They are as content to dance or simply sit quietly on the porch.  They are a people that love their country, most are quick with a smile and are more than willing to help if you ask.  We have also found that you can buy almost anything in Lebanon, today we did our first big shopping trip and were able to buy Kirkland brand groceries.  We also saw some more interesting things, that at the time we are not wanting to try!!! We have had some very great meals in our short time here and have learned that the Lebanese love food.  Within a 10 minute walk, we can probably find 30 different restaurants, from Chinese, Italian, the Hard Rock Café, Subway, McDonalds, Burger King and the local Swarma shop.  What is interesting is that all of these places will deliver to your house for about $2.  We have really enjoyed our first few days and are looking forward to our next adventures.  PLEASE leave us comments, as we really enjoy hearing from you and answering your questions.  The one thing we are really missing is our family and friends.

A random Beirut street in our area.
part of our walk to school
One of the entrances to our school
  Our cafeteria
Yes, part of what will be school lunch!

After our work day on Friday, we went to get cell phones, which is a long process here. This is Janna in the cell phone store!

This is Delaney after the cell phone store
We all crashed on Friday night.
Today’s shopping pictures. Yes, a mosque over stores. Notice the “Obama” references in the store sign
There were stores under where this picture was taken
This is the store under the last picture

These just looked funny to us! Sausage in a Jar!

And so we begin! YES! We are here!

Hello All!
Just wanted to let you all know that we are doing great here in Beirut! We do not have internet at home as of yet but please be patient! We will post some pictures soon! We are adjusting fairly well and the jet lag is starting to go away.  We will try to post something later this afternoon at school where we have wireless!

And the days get shorter.....

So here we are, 9 days left before our adventure starts! There are still so many things to get done. The bathrooms need work, the kitchen needs work, the family room needs work. The computer room, spare room, girl's room (except getting them out of it) are done. The storage unit is filling and the garbage and recycle bins seem to always be full.

Pumpkin (travel kitty) and Cooper (dog that will be with foster parents soon) are very confused as the house gets more empty each day.

The girls are doing great self managing and looking forward to having all of this done.

All I have to say is: Spackle, paint, spackle, paint, weed weed weed! Need to do so many dump runs it's crazy!

It will all end soon! Thanks so much to all of you for helping and supporting!