Solo in Beirut

Beirut. Beirut. Beirut.

I heard so many tales of this city. When I think of Beirut, I tried to imagine what this "Paris of The Middle East" would be like. I imagined that it was dreamy, quirky, and culturally rich. I knew of the famous Fairuz, Khalil Gibran, and Rafiq Hariri.

I decided to take a trip to Beirut when I was visiting Dubai for the first time after I underwent a crazy break up. I loved that visit to Dubai. I felt free and so happy for the first time in a long time. I made some seriously cool friends, partied like crazy, and ate good food. I boarded a plane to Beirut on January 1, 2017 after a night of New Years Eve celebrations in Dubai. I was seated next to this sweet Lebanese guy who announced to me that he was 23.5 years of age after he found out that I was 25 and older than him. We exchanged numbers and parted ways once the plane landed.

I stayed at a place on the St Nicholas stairs in Gemmayze and right off the bat, I was warmly welcomed by Ola ,a Lebanese/Australian girl, who would eventually become my friend until today. She was funny, quirky, and a bit lost. She gave me a "doo doo" shot upon arrival.

The first couple of days I spent just walking around and exploring the area and eating at cute restaurants. That's how I would describe Gemmayze: cute.

I was surprised when my friend from the plane messaged me and invited me to come out with him and his friends. I wasn't really expecting to hear from him but I was ecstatic at the opportunity to go out to discover the city with some locals. Ali was a unique profile. He told me he was a Shia muslim but he grew up with Francophone Lebanese people, spoke French like them, and went to school with them. So pretty much all his friends were Francophone Lebanese and they were all super nice classy people. They took me out to eat at some nice local joints and then Ali took me on another day to Jounieh. He also invited me to join him on a tour of the American University in Beirut, which is pretty much the only place in Beirut where you can see green spaces.

Ali was this handsome, green eyed, super sweet guy. He wanted to make sure I had as much fun in Beirut as possible. He was only in the city for a few days before having to fly out for work. I think he was working as a consultant if I remember correctly. He was also such a gentleman. He would pick me up, tell his friends to let me sit in the front seat, and never let me pay for anything. I think of him from time to time. I lost touch with him now. I wish I still had his contact information.

I spent much of my time in Beirut also just wandering about the city alone. I was surprised at how well behaved the men were. No one cat calling or staring or bothering me on the streets. They were also damn hot. I discovered interesting book stores and record stores in al Hamra district, went to El Rouche, and visited a mosque.

The city was quite calm at that time of year and the only part of Beirut that I really felt resembled Paris was their downtown with the clocks and luxury boutiques. Architecturally speaking, Beirut is more of a rugged Paris. Culturally speaking, I can see some resemblence. The Lebanese love to party and have fun just like the French.

Then I met another friend by the name of Mohammed. I don't remember where I met him, maybe at Starbucks but he wanted to show me around Lebanon so he invited me to join him on a day trip to Byblos. Byblos is one of the oldest inhabited cities, maybe around 7000 years old, or something like this. It is located on the Mediterranean coast and used to be an important trading port for the Phoenicians.

Mohammed told me about his life and I listened as I usually do since I am a very good listener. He was a bit weird though because he kept talking to me about how he is going to ask my dad for my hand in marriage. I summarized that Mohammed is a FOB. In Canada, we used this term to refer to someone new the country who hasn't acclimatized to Canadian society yet. It stands for "fresh off the boat". Nonetheless, I spent a nice day with Mohammed and spent the rest of my Beirut trip trying to avoid him since I didn't have plans to get married.

I spent most of my nights in Mar Mikhail partying with the people I met at my hotel/hostel. Most notably, I met my Libyan friend Ibrahim who remained my friend to this day. I don't remember what drew us to each other since we have very different personalities but we understood each other. Later on, we met in Paris while I was doing my masters.

I discovered the "Gin Basil" drink on Mar Mikhail which is a legendary drink tbh. Very simple and tasty. Beirut seemed like a peaceful city but it had this rugged real vibe to it. I picked up books on the political tension in the city and wandered a little bit into the Armenian called Burj Hammud if I remember correctly but I didn't like it too much and retreated back to Gemmayze quickly. Beirut has seen much political unrest and you can see the memories left on the walls of the city. And not just political message but also the amazing street art. I am not sure if Lebanese people still revere Rafiq Harriri as much as they did back in the day but I guess he will always remain an important figure in their history.

My solo trip in Beirut was fun, reflective, and brought me back to the generosity and hospitality of Arab people. Having lived in Canada for so long up until that point, the warmth of Arabs was mostly forgotten to me. I am grateful for the nice people I met, the yummy food I ate, and the new things I discovered. It was a moment of time for me to learn to be alone again. To think and wander and plan what life could be like for me moving forward from then on.

I have plans to return to the lovely Beirut.

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