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| The bullet showered 'Holiday Inn'. Located smack in the centre of Beirut, this highrise is now inhabited by pigeons. |
The next morning I had breakfast with Jamil at 10 am. He introduced me to a delicious paste called Za’atar, a unique blend of sesame seeds, Middle Eastern herbs and salt. The black yellow substance, together with white creamy yoghurt- like sauce was then eaten on some bread, along with olives and strong Turkish coffee.
Jamil and I talked for the following two hours about politics and life. I must say it felt quite philosophical, a surprisingly deep conversation to have both in the morning and with someone I had only just met.
It’s important to be happy, to follow your interests and to evade the artificial security that money brings. We talked about the people he had met, and those that I would soon meet while travelling, unhappy with their jobs, their lives, discovering that wealth and its false promises only acted as a temporary facade for their discontent.
Our conversation about politics was clearly more sensitive. I treaded carefully with my words and questions, weary of my naivety and of the general delicate nature of the subject. As we touched upon the Civil War, I know I had stepped on a sensitive chord. He spoke with resentment about the events, and also with genuine abhor for everything political.
“I don’t want anything to do with politics” he proclaimed. It was more than understandable, for many things political in Lebanon seemed to be structured around conflict, violence and corruption. What I had failed to realise is that what so fascinated me in my studies was for many locals a topic they wished to avoid; a reminder of the distressful modern history that plagued Lebanon. Jamil was not alone in my immediate surroundings to have witnessed the violence, the buildings too that encircled us carried with them a glimpse of the destruction and bloodshed that Lebanon had experienced. The bullet holes that I saw looking out of the balcony from the dining table were a sober reminder of the past that Lebanon had faced.
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| "Place des martyrs", located near the old 'Green line'. Look closely and you can see how the well-known statue has been sprayed by gunfire. |
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| The view from the balcony. The building on the right in this picture shows feintly shows bullet holes. |
