Beirut Travelogue

Wandering around Beirut, got lost and found an internet place so thought I would drop in a do a quick travelogue...

Have only been in the city 48 hours and leaving in another 48, but am really looking forward to coming back and doing a project. This is a place moving as quickly as possible away from its past. The streets are busy and feel very safe, there are cafe's, bars, restaurants both trendy and backwater catering to the glamorous and steadfast locals. The people are incredibly friendly and even in South Beirut where UMAM, the cultural centre I visited is and also the Hezbollah area, it feels relatively at ease, with its backdrop of gunned walls and posters of martyrs. Most of the damage obstructed by advertising for various things to beautify your life, one enormous billboard for a make-up artist...

Senaya house, the flat/open source culture centre I am staying at is huge, its really feels like I am back in Naples, gorgeous tiled floors, 20 ft cielings and enormous doors leading to balconies where I can watch the bored police soldiers pace back and forth with their machine guns drooping at their sides desperately trying to entertain themselves by counting cracks in the pavement. But their presence is no more menacing than the robo-cops at Waterloo or Grand Central Station...

I bought Obama's first book at the airport in London and proudly promoted it my whole flight here to many happy responses. Never before have I crossed into a border with a US passport feeling so unashamed, knowing that regardless of his policies and politics, his symbol would be remembered forever. I had an amazing conversation with Mustafa, the caretaker at UMAM about Bush, Obama, Allah, Marriage and life in general. He speaks not a word of English and me not a word of Arabic but it was certainly an in depth analysis of the world!

This eve is the opening of the show I am helping install, My Place in Between, so I am sure I will get to see some nightlife and network like mad!