Lebanese Lunch!

Almost everyone I know loves Lebanese food. There are a few exceptions though, and I am one of them. Last year I decided I was going to learn to love Lebanese food by making myself eat it. I can't say that I love it all now, but there are definitely things that I like. My first week here several Lebanese from my program took me and some friends out to have Lebanese Mezze. Mezze is basically just a meal made up of a lot of small dishes (that keep coming and coming). Its a great way to get a good sample of a lot of different Lebanese foods. Here are a few pictures from our meal. 

First here is the view from our restaurant. It was such a beautiful place!

 Most Lebanese meals start with hummus (حمس) and a salad. We had tabbouleh (تبوله), a salad made up of bulgur wheat, tomatoes, parsley, mint, onion, lemon juice and salt. The Lebanese eat tabbouleh wrapped in lettuce or cabbage. 

This is chicken liver and a few chicken hearts. The taste wasn't bad but the meat was really soft so I wasn't a fan. The hearts were a little better. 

This is fried kibbeh (كبه ), ground meat usually beef or lamb with some spices and fried cheese rolls.  

Next comes the raw meat!!! We were severed raw chicken liver, beef, and pieces of fat. I tried it all. I actually liked the beef. I usually eat steak rare so it tasted about the same. 

Shrimp. They were kinda cute...and delicious. 

Finally we get to dessert and I am already stuffed. For dessert we had an array of fruit: watermelon, cantaloupe, grapes, pears, and plums. 

I almost forgot...here's a picture of my coke.

We started this lunch around one and I think we finished at four. Haha. We even had a 30 minute break in between dishes. We had A LOT of good food and conversation with some great friends!

Back to Beirut. A Travel Diary

Last week I traveled back to Beirut, Lebanon. This post is about my experiences that day. It's a long post but it was an even longer day!

Monday September 3rd

2:00am

Woke and loaded the car to head to the airport.

I couldn't tell if I was excited or afraid, happy or sad. It's really hard for me to feel anything but tired at two in the morning. My dad and I loaded his car and left for Atlanta at three. This was the start to a very long day.

6:00am
After getting to the airport, checking my bags, saying bye to my dad, and going through airport security I was finally starting to wake up. After a little while of tears I pulled myself together and started to get excited about what's to come this year in Beirut. (I repeated this at least three times).

9:00am
I arrive in Newark :) my next flight leaves at 5pm :( . Luckily my friend, and incredible travel buddy, Kim arrives at 2. So after 8 hours of reading, That 70's Show, and catching up, Kim and I leave on a 9 hour flight for Frankfurt, Germany where we have a short layover (or so we thought).

Tuesday September 4th 
7:00am (Germany Time)
Until now, I've had pretty seamless travel and a great time with Kim. As we are unboarding deboarding getting off the plane we learn that many Lufthansa workers were on strike and most of their flights in Europe were cancelled. Our flight, not landing in Europe, was scheduled to leave to as planned at 10:20am....until 9:50.

9:50am
Time to find another flight. Two thirds of Lufthansa's flights flying out of its biggest international airport were cancelled. You can imagine the chaos. After being directed from one line to the next and then back to first line we were in, and even leaving the airport once, we finally found the rebooking line and took a number. 511. The board had just called 320.

I've now lost track of time
So now we wait and wait. Kim and I took turns napping, well laying on the floor with our eyes closed, finding bathrooms, getting food, and looking for Euros to use the internet. About 5 hours later our number was called. We got rebooked and now were headed to DUSSELDORF, Germany.

6:40pm
Kim and I were so deprived of sleep at this point we were laughing at everything. Also we were on a plane to Dusseldorf which is just funny.

You can tell were pretty delusional at this point. I think I'm singing a song about Dusseldorf into my seatbelt. I really thought we were going to be kicked off the plane but there weren't many people on our flight.

9:45pm

Kim and I leave from Dusseldorf and head to Beirut!

Wednesday September 5th

12:55am
We arrive in Beirut. Our bags do not.

After filing a claim about our lost baggage, which was much easier than I expected, Kim and I found our friends who welcomed us water, my favorite Lebanese cookies, and m&ms (Thanks Tim, Ty, and Matt!)

Middle Eastern Airlines (great airline! not their fault our bags were lost) gave us a toiletry bag and a t-shirt!

Saturday September 8th

All of our bags arrived in Lebanon and Kim and I were able to go get them! At the airport all of the lost luggage was piled in one room and Kim and I had to walk inside and find ours. We found our bags, signed a piece of paper and finally ended our travel into Beirut. It was a long trip but I actually had a lot of fun along the way!

Here is Kim and me finally reunited with our luggage.