Ben in Plano, TX

Georges -

I've not been to Lebanon but I spent 6 weeks in 1987 and 6 weeks again in 1989 in Jordan just SW of the Dead Sea. I was working on an archaelogical excavation of a Late Roman Legionary fortress known as El-Lejjun.

I had the opportunity to work and live with the Bedouin of the region (the Azazma) and found them to be some of the warmest and most giving people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. I will forever love the people and places of the Middle East and it is very difficult to see the region in such turmoil. I have a friend who is Jordanian (but was born and raised in Kuwait) who married a Lebanese girl a couple of years ago - they had their wedding in Beirut and he said even then that the transformation from the war years was truly remarkable.

As salam alekem -

Ben

btw - George, better spelling would be hummus, baba ghanoush, and tabouli - perhaps we'll have the opportunity to get together for some good Mid East eats soon - insh'allah ;-)

emilios

Ben,

it's actually spelled tabouleh!

George A

Ben,

I guess you learn something new about people all the time. Cool. You know there are several places in town that have excellent Middle Eastern food. They just opened one up by Stonebriar Mall by my house. The best in Dallas is Ali Baba, but they have strange working hours. We usually meet up at Cafe Istambul once every two weeks for lunch. It's Turkish food, but it's pretty close. I'll let you know the next time we go out there.

George

Ben in Plano, TX

Emilios - darn - well I tried.

You might get a kick out of this story - my advisor (in college) was on Cyprus in '73 when shooting broke out. The US sent Marines over to evacuate civilians and he and his colleagues had to make their way across the island to a rendezvous point. He said that they had to pick their way around burned out tanks, APC's and civilian cars on the road - clearly the road had been strafed many times. They finally make it to the rendezvous point and nobody is there! After waiting for 20 tense minutes they finally here the 'whap-whap-whap' of a Marine helicopter. They were safely airlifted out to waiting Navy ship off the coast. Now this guy is a fairly left leaning professor sort but he loves to tell this story and always ends it with "The US Marines saved my butt on Cyprus!".

George A - give me a call next time - my cell is 972-679-1171.

Ben

emilios

Yes Ben,
those unfortunate sad times - we are still suffering from those damn events..

Jean

Sorry to dig this thread from the dark

Georges, I am Lebanese as well, well half at least, my other half is from Spain. I am surprised that many people have actually heard of our little country and its food.

Guys I can tell you , it is one hell of a country, I have been an expatriate for more than 10 years and no matter where I have been around the globe, nothing beats the liveliness of this place. Nightlife is just as wild as Mallorca.

BTW, there is one more lebanese born person here, euhhh, one of the core guys of Rennlist. He will make himself known if he wishes

We'll get together in Christmas Georges, sounds good?

Georges Rebeiz

Hy Jean.. Nice to hear from you.. Give me a buzz when you get to Beirut..

Toga

Hi Georges,

I was in Lebanon for 4 days in april. First time there. We have been fascinated, my wife and I, by the wonderfull landscape you have! We were in Jbeil, and visited the Cedar forest, and other interesting places north of Beyruth. I'm also a "fanatic" of your food
I cannot resit to present you a few pictures of my journey.

Cheers!

Jean

Georges, will do for sure. Met a few guys from the Lebanese Porsche Club in Dubai for the FIA GT race..We should organise something regional at the F1 track.

JP, that first picture was taken from Harissa, literally 10 minutes away from where I used to live that restaurant looks like Chez Sami although a bit hard to tell.

Toga

Hi Jean,

sorry I don't remember the name of the restaurant, it was 10 minutes by car to the hills from Jbeil. I was there for a wedding. GREAT souvenir.

Vileiz

Well Bummer i did not sign up earlier and find this post and ofcourse this great site
I am lebanese, born raised 100% lebanese, been through the bad and the good of this country (29 y.o.) been a porsche enthusiast ever since i was young, and like many families who chose to stay here got affected by the financial impact of the war, anyhow. I think i can finally come to grip and say i will soon obtain a porsche ( 968 hopefully if i can find one here ) thats what i can get ATM.
Lebanon has been torn apart by war that ended some 14 years ago, and for i can say that we are this area's Monaco . If you wanna have fun in this area, this is the place to be, the intruiging mix of cultures produces an exotic form of life where anyone can be pleased whatever your interest is.

emilios

Vileiz,
better late than never - welcome aboard, it's always nice to have Lebanese people joining!

Lebanon is indeed exotic, the pearl of the mediterranean - beautiful country, fantastic cuisine and warm-hearted people.

Good luck with your 968 search.

Best regards

Emilios

DJF1

Yeah Beirut was always very wealthy and always thought as the Paris of middle east. I remember my dad he had some very good friends who were Lebanese but with the war he lost touch... My mom always said how much she enjoyed Beirut and how disgusted she was seeing it being destroyed in the news back then.
The food for sure is great ( very close to Greek ) and the women...oh my...simply stunning... yeap her name was Noha and i was 20

Thanks for digging this up, I have missed that thread. Its good seeing pics from there and that life is back to normal so to speak as it should be...

Jean

Vileiz, welcome aboard, one more Lebanese! We're what,4 now?

Now you only have to get a membership and let us know your name

DJ, of all things, women are what I fully agree with you.

Let us know if you need help finding your toy.
Best,
Jean

emilios

Danny, stop scratching old wounds, I'm happily married now!