Hello,
I have been in Lebanon for 2 months now, give or take a day, and my application for a 1 year residency has been submitted. I had to go and sign some official papers saying I’d be peaceful and law abiding etc. We can’t think of a reason I’d be rejected residency but if the strong arm of the immigration ministry flexes it’s muscles, I may see you sooner rather than later.
We are certainly experiencing Autumn now. Although it’s not as cold as the UK (we’ve not had a frost yet) it’s pretty chilly. The very high mountains, Mount Hermon for example, have snow on the tops. The rain is immense. You know those horrible heavy showers we have in the UK? It’s like that for hours on end here. With no drains in the streets, it just turns into a big river. The school was hit several bolts of thunder a few weeks ago, causing some damage. It began raining yesterday at 11:30am. It is currently 5pm and has been raining heavily (with thunder in the night) ever since. I think my 3 years in Aberystwyth were good training, building up to living here.
Tomorrow is Independence Day, when the Lebanese celebrate breaking free from the colonial rule of the French and British in the 1940s. Yes, Lebanon was another of the places Britain tried to colonise in history.
The school had the performance of it today. The younger children sung national songs and wore national dress. It was very cute to see them all performing, and most amusing to try to spot the ones who stood there not having a clue what they were doing on the stage! The older children performed a play about some local hero who played some role in the event. The drama lasted well over an hour and was sooooo boring. Two of my class fell asleep. Even the Lebanese teachers didn’t follow all of it. I couldn’t understand it of course.
It was very odd celebrating the anniversary of a day when Britain was kicked out of Lebanon! I felt like an intruder, especially when it was mentioned that the UK hung any of the rebels.
I think that a lot of the parents here beat their children. Many times when I give a bad mark to a child, they start sobbing saying “My mother said she would hit me if I got less than 90%”. I get the impression that the child trying their hardest in school is not valued here. The parents only seem pleased if they get 90% in every subject. I had many parents at the parents evening saying they weren’t pleased with their kid’s 75% mark.
A week ago, we had the ‘Lord’s Supper’ in the local chXrch. For some reason, the head of the PresbXterian ChurXh for Lebanon and SXria came to do the service. Lebanon is such a small place, it’s very easy to meet important people. As the English speaking people make up half of the congregation, he gave us a summary of what he said in English. After the service, the remaining wine and bread was passed around and eaten by everyone! Just like you’d have coffee and biscuits in Britain. It made me chuckle.
A few of us have started doing a Sunday Club style event at a girls orphanage. It is the sister orphanage to the one I worked in last summer in Beirut. There are only about 20 girls there at the moment but they enjoy us going and telling stories, playing games etc.
I’d better go now, I have exams to write and books to mark.
Pete_K.
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