Maarakeh, Lebanon. 21 August 1972
Arrived in Beirut last Monday (14th) OK. Someone had telexed through to say I should be met at the airport (no idea who) and they took me to the Kings Hotel, as per the instructions from the Office of Social Development. Only the hotel was full, and they weren't expecting me. I decided to go to the American Community School where I stayed last year and see if there was a room there, which there was.
Tuesday, went to the OSD to sort things out. Picked up my things from the ACS, and was taken to a rather grotty hotel some way along the coast. Had a swim and wrote to Prof Serjeant in Yemen, and to Aeroflot in Beirut to confirm the flight reservation. Still have to sort out my visa.
Wednesday - we were bussed off to the camp, which is near Tyre. More organisational issues: no food or water. However that was sorted out, and so we put up our camp beds and dug a latrine pit and basically sat around until the power cut, which was rather nice because we sat outside and chatted by moonlight. The campers are a mix - about half of them Lebanese from various parts of the country, the rest are from different countries. Most are student sort of age like me though there are a couple of older guys from the Tatra factory in Czechoslovakia.
Thursday - drew the short straw and was part of the housekeeping team in the camp for the day while everyone else went off and visited local houses. Housekeeping is things like washing dishes, making sure that the toilet trench isn't too stinky, and preparing vegetables.
Friday - we dug a trench across a road for a pipe in the morning,then went down to Tyre and had a swim. In the evening there was a presentation of European music by a group consisting of a Frenchman, a Lebanese pop singer and the singer's girlfriend. It all started rather late because there was another power cut.
Saturday - another trench followed by another swim. I do hope that Yemen is a bit cooler than here. We are about 6 miles from the sea and only about 1000 feet up, so it is pretty hot. I took a couple of pictures today, and amused people in the evening with a bit of music played on my bicycle pump. I have adorned it with transfers handed out by the Czechoslovakian men.
Sunday - an outing to Tyre and Sidon. Now I can identify the pictures I took last year. Tyre was the place with the rather unimpressive Roman ruins. Sidon is the pretty little castle in the water. In the evening we had dinner at Djezzine which has a very high waterfall, and is apparently famous for its cutlery.
I'm not using my (little) Arabic much here - most of the conversation is in French, though the Czechs and two of the English girls only speak English, which slows things down. Another English girl is studying Arabic and Hebrew at Leeds and is having the same trouble converting classical Arabic into conversation as I have. Discovered that all the intelligible Arabic radio stations here are Israeli. The Lebanese campers got a bit agitated when I tuned into an Arabic speaking station which they said was in Israel. The Lebanese radio signal doesn't seem to get this far south.
As I am flying off to Yemen on 4th, I will miss some of the free tourism at the end of the camp, but I am keen to meet up with Prof Serjeant when he passes through Beirut on his way back from Sanaa. I haven't got confirmation of the Cairo-Hodeidah leg yet.
Arrived in Beirut last Monday (14th) OK. Someone had telexed through to say I should be met at the airport (no idea who) and they took me to the Kings Hotel, as per the instructions from the Office of Social Development. Only the hotel was full, and they weren't expecting me. I decided to go to the American Community School where I stayed last year and see if there was a room there, which there was.
Tuesday, went to the OSD to sort things out. Picked up my things from the ACS, and was taken to a rather grotty hotel some way along the coast. Had a swim and wrote to Prof Serjeant in Yemen, and to Aeroflot in Beirut to confirm the flight reservation. Still have to sort out my visa.
Wednesday - we were bussed off to the camp, which is near Tyre. More organisational issues: no food or water. However that was sorted out, and so we put up our camp beds and dug a latrine pit and basically sat around until the power cut, which was rather nice because we sat outside and chatted by moonlight. The campers are a mix - about half of them Lebanese from various parts of the country, the rest are from different countries. Most are student sort of age like me though there are a couple of older guys from the Tatra factory in Czechoslovakia.
Thursday - drew the short straw and was part of the housekeeping team in the camp for the day while everyone else went off and visited local houses. Housekeeping is things like washing dishes, making sure that the toilet trench isn't too stinky, and preparing vegetables.
Friday - we dug a trench across a road for a pipe in the morning,then went down to Tyre and had a swim. In the evening there was a presentation of European music by a group consisting of a Frenchman, a Lebanese pop singer and the singer's girlfriend. It all started rather late because there was another power cut.
Saturday - another trench followed by another swim. I do hope that Yemen is a bit cooler than here. We are about 6 miles from the sea and only about 1000 feet up, so it is pretty hot. I took a couple of pictures today, and amused people in the evening with a bit of music played on my bicycle pump. I have adorned it with transfers handed out by the Czechoslovakian men.
Sunday - an outing to Tyre and Sidon. Now I can identify the pictures I took last year. Tyre was the place with the rather unimpressive Roman ruins. Sidon is the pretty little castle in the water. In the evening we had dinner at Djezzine which has a very high waterfall, and is apparently famous for its cutlery.
I'm not using my (little) Arabic much here - most of the conversation is in French, though the Czechs and two of the English girls only speak English, which slows things down. Another English girl is studying Arabic and Hebrew at Leeds and is having the same trouble converting classical Arabic into conversation as I have. Discovered that all the intelligible Arabic radio stations here are Israeli. The Lebanese campers got a bit agitated when I tuned into an Arabic speaking station which they said was in Israel. The Lebanese radio signal doesn't seem to get this far south.
As I am flying off to Yemen on 4th, I will miss some of the free tourism at the end of the camp, but I am keen to meet up with Prof Serjeant when he passes through Beirut on his way back from Sanaa. I haven't got confirmation of the Cairo-Hodeidah leg yet.
No comments:
Post a Comment