(no subject)
Day before yesterday, Manal drove us to Byblos. It was strange having the ocean on one side of your and mountains curling around the rest of you. They're just so much more immediate here; when you drive to the mountains in north carolina you barely see them, it's so gradual. And these mountains are lit up because they've got people on them - our mountains have like, squirrels on them. It's pretty dazzling, how the land rises up and the little pinpricks of lights all over them. There were some fireworks, and frankly, against the backdrop of the mountains, they're really... redundant feeling. We ate at a restaurant. I ordered a banana split and they never brought it. We stopped by a shop afterwards to pick up a drink and they had a baby squirrel in a bird cage. I let it sniff my finger before I tried to pet it, but mom just shoved her fingers in there and loved on it. It was apparently not prone to biting.
Yesterday Ahmad took us (excluding Alia, who was sick enough to stay home) to Tyre where we partook in walking through an old town thing that was just, surreally old. They were like inhabited catacombs or something I can't really describe. The peoples homes were mixed in with markets. We saw the chateaux de la mer which, of course, was antique beyond comprehension for americans. We then ate at this place next to the sea, but it was at that time that I began to feel flu-like symptoms (shivers, hotness, soreness.) The service was shitty but the atmosphere, I guess, makes up for it. The food was alright but I'd lost my apetite the day before and it hadn't returned completely. There was a family sitting diagonal to us, two tanned, dirty-blonde parents and their two tanned, platinum blonde childre. The woman was tall, and the man looked like Ralph fiennes. I think the son had some sort of mild retardation. Ahmad thought they were Swedish, but I thought the children were speaking German - when the parents spoke it wasn't so clear.
Today Ahmad's babymama came over and got into a fight with my grandmother and it involved slapping and shoving and yelling in arabic. sarah was crying in the bathtub, and it was pretty sad and rather strange. I still haven't completely recovered my apetite. We've all been sick since practically when we arrived.
Yesterday Ahmad took us (excluding Alia, who was sick enough to stay home) to Tyre where we partook in walking through an old town thing that was just, surreally old. They were like inhabited catacombs or something I can't really describe. The peoples homes were mixed in with markets. We saw the chateaux de la mer which, of course, was antique beyond comprehension for americans. We then ate at this place next to the sea, but it was at that time that I began to feel flu-like symptoms (shivers, hotness, soreness.) The service was shitty but the atmosphere, I guess, makes up for it. The food was alright but I'd lost my apetite the day before and it hadn't returned completely. There was a family sitting diagonal to us, two tanned, dirty-blonde parents and their two tanned, platinum blonde childre. The woman was tall, and the man looked like Ralph fiennes. I think the son had some sort of mild retardation. Ahmad thought they were Swedish, but I thought the children were speaking German - when the parents spoke it wasn't so clear.
Today Ahmad's babymama came over and got into a fight with my grandmother and it involved slapping and shoving and yelling in arabic. sarah was crying in the bathtub, and it was pretty sad and rather strange. I still haven't completely recovered my apetite. We've all been sick since practically when we arrived.