My weekend ruled.
Here's a breakdown:
Friday: Went to class. Then some girl crossed my name off the laundry sign-up sheet (yes we have to sign up to do laundry). Turns out my roommate and suitemate both have a history with her so we ran around the dorm trying to tell her off and it was awesome. I love bonding. Later that night I went downtown with all my international student friends and ate a quesadilla!!! Then I rented Mulan with some friends. Don't judge.
Saturday: Crusade Saturday! My friend Kate is in a history class about the Crusades. The professor organized a field trip to look at crusader castles and I got conned into going (and our friend Abood). It turned out to be a great time! We dressed like tourists wearing spandex, hiking boots, and carrying our Lonely Planet guidebook. The bus left at 8am. Then around 11 we stopped on the side of the road and the Professor pointed to (literally) a pile of stones across the valley. He then suggested that we hike to the site, which alarmed many Lebanese girls. It felt really great to be back in the natural world. There wasn't really a trail and at several points in the journey goats blocked our path. We got to do some rock climbing too! After several dead ends we reached the top. Then a sheep herder in a Dulce&Gabanna belt (I kid you not- truth is stranger than fiction) started yelling at us (in Arabic). He claimed to have planted something in the ruins. The professor decided it would be best if we turned around instead of starting a local feud. Then we got back in the bus and went to Tripoli where we saw a well-preserved crusader castle. Both this one and the one in Akkar were built in 1109, which are probably the youngest ruins I've seen in the Middle East. It was really great to see Tripoli. It's a pretty big city. It's also poor and predominantly Sunni Muslim. Then we drove back to Beirut. Shower, food, and off to the cinema where we saw "Kingdom of Heaven". I don't know how big it is in the States, but it is THE movie in Beirut right now. Anyway, it was really interesting to see it with my Catholic friend and two Muslim boys. They were appalled that Salah Al-din spoke English to his knights and not Arabic. He he.
Sunday: Ate pancakes and wrote a letter to my sister. Then I found out that I've been using the men's bathroom at the cafe I go to a lot. Oops. Studying and running on the Corniche. Then I went down to the "Green Field" and saw a dance show with middle and high school students from all over the area. There was even a group from Spain!
Anyway, here are some pictures:
Crusader Castles (footage of me and a goat!):
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=15cadunn.1734bnsz&x=0&y=-gh11gn
Updated pictures from Jordan:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=15cadunn.edeb6m7&x=0&y=-c2velr
Abood's birthday, cooking in the dorms, AUB concert:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=15cadunn.de9vw8z&x=0&y=aw8g41
Friday: Went to class. Then some girl crossed my name off the laundry sign-up sheet (yes we have to sign up to do laundry). Turns out my roommate and suitemate both have a history with her so we ran around the dorm trying to tell her off and it was awesome. I love bonding. Later that night I went downtown with all my international student friends and ate a quesadilla!!! Then I rented Mulan with some friends. Don't judge.
Saturday: Crusade Saturday! My friend Kate is in a history class about the Crusades. The professor organized a field trip to look at crusader castles and I got conned into going (and our friend Abood). It turned out to be a great time! We dressed like tourists wearing spandex, hiking boots, and carrying our Lonely Planet guidebook. The bus left at 8am. Then around 11 we stopped on the side of the road and the Professor pointed to (literally) a pile of stones across the valley. He then suggested that we hike to the site, which alarmed many Lebanese girls. It felt really great to be back in the natural world. There wasn't really a trail and at several points in the journey goats blocked our path. We got to do some rock climbing too! After several dead ends we reached the top. Then a sheep herder in a Dulce&Gabanna belt (I kid you not- truth is stranger than fiction) started yelling at us (in Arabic). He claimed to have planted something in the ruins. The professor decided it would be best if we turned around instead of starting a local feud. Then we got back in the bus and went to Tripoli where we saw a well-preserved crusader castle. Both this one and the one in Akkar were built in 1109, which are probably the youngest ruins I've seen in the Middle East. It was really great to see Tripoli. It's a pretty big city. It's also poor and predominantly Sunni Muslim. Then we drove back to Beirut. Shower, food, and off to the cinema where we saw "Kingdom of Heaven". I don't know how big it is in the States, but it is THE movie in Beirut right now. Anyway, it was really interesting to see it with my Catholic friend and two Muslim boys. They were appalled that Salah Al-din spoke English to his knights and not Arabic. He he.
Sunday: Ate pancakes and wrote a letter to my sister. Then I found out that I've been using the men's bathroom at the cafe I go to a lot. Oops. Studying and running on the Corniche. Then I went down to the "Green Field" and saw a dance show with middle and high school students from all over the area. There was even a group from Spain!
Anyway, here are some pictures:
Crusader Castles (footage of me and a goat!):
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=15cadunn.1734bnsz&x=0&y=-gh11gn
Updated pictures from Jordan:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=15cadunn.edeb6m7&x=0&y=-c2velr
Abood's birthday, cooking in the dorms, AUB concert:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=15cadunn.de9vw8z&x=0&y=aw8g41