Fashion and Wardrobe
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Blog: Calling Beirut From New York City
Nouhad Moawad left Beirut on July 2 for an internship at Women"s eNews. Majoring in translation at Beirut"s Lebanese University, the tri-lingual (English, French and Arabic) Moawad wished to spend the summer immersed in English and New York City. September 7, 2006: The Winner in Lebanon Is Who? People have been saying that since the war stopped three weeks ago in Lebanon. On one hand Israel claims the victory. On the other hand, Hezbollah claims the victory too. How could this war create two winners? Each side has announced itself as a winner relating to its own criterion of "winning the war." Perhaps, it is a partial winning. Israel declares it destroyed a large number of Hezbollah"s arms depots. Hezbollah says it resisted the Israeli military. Many of my friends are convinced that both sides in the war are losers: One side has failed to destroy the target; the other brought damage to its country and brought Lebanon back to a state of destruction much like the end of the civil war. They add that only Lebanon is the victim of this non-sense war. Some of my friends have fled the country. "We don"t have bread to eat in here and it is not anymore our country," one friend told me. Some can"t leave because they don"t have money to buy the airline ticket and they are not able to get a visa. A few have decided to stay in Lebanon and work for it. A good friend of mine told me that there are 8,000 undetonated bombs in Lebanon. "Imagine that you are walking in a field of bombs. This is not an imagination in Lebanon, it is a reality." My classmates don"t know when college will start again. One of my friends said: "It is really ridiculous how they claimed to open the Lebanese University and the public schools starting November. I wonder how students will be able to get into their classes through these dangerous and broken roads." She added: "The traffic in Lebanon now is a nightmare. You need about four hours to get from Byblos to Beirut. Plus, the bus ticket"s price has increased from 500 Lebanese Pounds (about 33 cents) to 7,000 Lebanese Pounds (about $4.75)." She also said: "It is ridiculous how Lebanese politicians are busy attacking each other and forgetting the real catastrophe that took Lebanon." Lebanon and innocent people are real losers. It is a devastating loss of a nation"s vision of its future. August 21, 2006: Leaving One by One On Saturday, I called my friend who is studying psychology at my college, the Lebanese University. She asked me if she should stay. "I am so lost," she told me. "On one hand, I don"t want to leave the country in this way as if we are kicked out. I don"t want to leave it to strangers. It is my country not theirs. On the other side, I am afraid that the war starts again then time will stop. Everything will be destroyed. Schools and colleges will be closed. Food, fuel, electricity will run out. I want to continue my studies. I want to open psychoanalysis clinic. I want to live a normal life as all the people. We have been living here during peace; it is not fair to leave it now. It is a very hard decision to make!!" I couldn"t say a word, I agree with all that she said. I listened to her and I was feeling her anxiety. Then, on Sunday, I signed on MSN. My friend who is a volunteer in the Red Cross told me that my ex-roommate had traveled to Australia two days before with her parents and two brothers. She is about to finish her bachelor"s degree in pediatric speech therapy. She had always told me she would never consider leaving Lebanon. We have been friends since we sat near each other in 7th grade. We used to talk about our ambitions, Lebanon and many other things. Then in college, we shared the same room for two years. We did crazy things during that time, such as the chocolate "shopping" together, buying at least one of every kind available tat he nearest Aoun Supermarket. We couldn"t meet before my departure to New York City because she was preparing for her final exams. She phoned me with an apology, saying, "Hey the girl of the realized dreams!! You are realizing your dream to go to New York City as you told me since school. I am sorry I can"t meet you because I am studying. I never changed my habit: I keep my studies to the last minute before the exams. But I will be waiting for you to tell me about your trip." "Yes, sure!" I said and I laughed. Now, she is not there anymore. It seems that most my friends are either planning to leave Lebanon or they are already fleeing it. Lebanon is losing its good and educated young people. Is that the goal of the war: to make Lebanon a place only for people who believe that war is the solution instead of dialogue and peace? August 17, 2006: A Good Friend Leaves Home Today, I got an e-mail from a close friend in her early 20s who lives near downtown Beirut. She said she is traveling to Saudi Arabia this Saturday to her cousins. She will try to find a job there or somewhere else. "The 1701 Resolution doesn"t mention clearly that Hezbollah must give up its weapons," she said, referring the U.N. Security Council ceasefire agreement for Lebanon and Israel signed on Aug.13. I knew she was planning to travel, but I couldn"t believe she was leaving Lebanon. We have been friends for six years, sharing interests in music, books, cultural events, civil society activities, politics and Lebanon. She has been active in European Union youth projects and for women"s rights and civil rights. Over the past three years she always seemed to be coming back from some international conference, or planning to attend another. The workshops were on globalization, media relations, conflict resolution. All of them were about serving Lebanon, making it a better place. She was often so busy that we had trouble finding time together. Before my departure to New York City, we couldn"t manage to arrange any time together. But it didn"t matter, because she would be there when I returned. I never thought that I might come back and not find her still there. I will miss her. I will miss talking to her and dreaming together of our Lebanon, the Lebanon of culture, of peace, of democracy and of human rights. She will always be a very good friend for me. What did this war do? It couldn"t eliminate Hezbollah. Instead it is pushing young Christian and Muslim moderate intellectuals out of the country. Is this is how we install democracy and freedom? August 15: E-Mails Are Happy and Anxious Sunday at midnight, the ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel began after four weeks of war and destruction. My friends and my family are happy but they couldn"t hide their anxiety for the future. One of my classmates who is working now in a restaurant in Beirut sent this e-mail: "No more bombs for now!!! People are feeling free. Today was the first day since July 12, the restaurant was crowded." Then, she added: "The refugees are going back to their villages in the South of Lebanon and in the southern suburbs of Beirut although Israel has warned them not to return before the arrival of the Lebanese army and the U.N. forces." Another friend studying psychology told me on the phone: "We don"t hear any more bombs! I feel relaxed a bit. But I am really afraid that the war will start again soon in case Hezbollah doesn"t give up its weapons." She added: "You can"t imagine the destruction in Lebanon. Roads in the south were erased. Even the Zeus temple in Baalbeck, the famous Roman city, was badly harmed." I"m unable to share the sense of relief that some of my friends are expressing. I remain very guarded, braced for more terrible news. My attitude is shared by another friend who fled Beirut to the mountains surrounding the capital and is now back in the city. "Everybody claims the victory," she said in an e-mail. "But, what victory is that? I don"t believe that the war ended, it will be back soon. Hezbollah doesn"t look like it will abandon its weapons soon and Israel won"t accept that. Lebanese people are stuck in the middle." August 14, 2006: We"re Both Lucky To Be Alive On Saturday, I used my cell phone to reach a friend who is a supervisor in a school in Beirut. She fled the capital to her summer home in the north of Lebanon. "I am lucky because I am still alive," she told me. "Yesterday, to change my mood, I visited my friends in Byblos. One hour after I left the town, the radio station"s antenna was bombed. Its location is on the road that I took back to my house." I found no words to express my feelings. All I said in reply was: "Please take care." I went through a similar situation last summer. I was on a bus, by myself, going to an advocacy workshop camp in the mountains surrounding Beirut. The bus stopped so we could have lunch before the meeting in Zalka, a northern suburban of Beirut. Then we moved on. Two hours later, I learned that a bomb exploded near the restaurant where I was eating. It is so mystical how events happen in life! As if we meant to deliver a message. Time has saved my friend"s life and mine as well. August 11, 2006: Memories of Lebanon"s Beaches Yesterday, a friend of mine working for the Red Cross forwarded pictures of the Mediterranean beach--now called the "Black Sea" by Lebanese--at the ancient city of Byblos. I had seen pictures before of the oil-covered sands, but this time I was more shocked because there was a photo of the seashore I visited before my departure to New York City. In late June, my friend, who is a college professor, suggested we meet on the Byblos beach. We both like the beach because the sound of the water, the blue sky, the warm sands and the salty air are all so relaxing. We met at 10:30 on a sunny Saturday. The weather was perfect for the beach. We settled in a strategic place where we could enjoy the sea and the view of the old city of Byblos with houses thousands of years old. We hadn"t been together for several months and we talked aboutPages: [1] 2 3 4