Beirut 101

This is one class you cannot (or do not want to) sleep through. Our course began a little north of Beirut, in a town called Jbeil (Byblos). It is the oldest continually inhabited town in the world and still stands as it did during Phoenician times. We visited the famous Crusaders Castle, which would protect the city and the port at the height of its existence.






We later went to Tripoli where we walked around the fish markets and enjoyed some amazing “Fooul” at a local “hole-in-the-wall” hotspot.



On Monday we went on a tour of Downtown Beirut. Our adventure started at the American University of Beirut, George’s Alma Mater (one of them, at least). I was very impressed by the campus and could definitely see why he enjoyed his education so much back when he attended the University.







As we were walking around the different buildings we suddenly came upon the library. Thus began our mini-research project. A quick keyword search of “Keushguerian” brought up a certain Master’s Thesis preserved in its full, unadulterated form, written by the one and only, George L. Keushguerian. See for yourself:









After the AUB, we visited the Armenian Evangelical College (AEC) and met up with Dad's old principal/teacher, Zaven Missrlian. He gave us a tour of the high school after the two of them reminisced of the old days when Dad attended the school. After the AEC we also got to see Haigazian University which faces the AEC.





After visiting the different schools, we walked around the streets surrounding the AUB campus. It is a very lively area filled with all different kinds of people. The students are a very diverse and dynamic group and when among them you do not feel as though you are in an Arab country. For lunch we went to a famous falafel joint called Falafel BerBer.





After lunch we returned to the hotel and met up with Alidz and her daughter Talar. Talar took me around Downtown Beirut and showed me some famous landmarks in and around the city. She showed me Roushe, which is a famous rock formation in the sea that is commonly shown on postcards of the country. It reminded me of Los Arcos at Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Downtown Beirut is the side of the city that everyone brags about. It is an extravagant area that is home to lavish residential communities, European-style cafes and restaurants, designer stores and boutiques, all with amazing views of the sea. At the end of the day, I even got to do some shopping at Zara, located in one of their newest malls, "Le Mall".



















At night, Hovsep's sons Raffi and Ara took us to an amazing restaurant set in the mountains close to the town of Faraya, which is a ski resort during the winter. It was only 30-40 minutes outside of Beirut. When we left Beirut around 9PM it was 35 degrees Celcius and when we arrived at the restaurant, the temperature dropped to a chill 21 degrees C. It had a beautiful fireplace in the center of the outdoor seating area and their specialty was Saj flatbread filled with cheese, zakhtar, or even lamb. We arrived at around 9:30PM ready to eat dinner. If you think that is a little too late to eat, try explaining yourself to the groups of people that were showing up just before midnight.





What a day!!!