It turns out that my window is directly over the cafe and I think there was a big party last night. There was lots of Arabic music well after midnight. I fell asleep, so I don't know what time it ended. It definitely sounded like it was live music and they sang happy birthday at one point. It was the Arabic happy birthday, which I had only heard on YouTube videos before. (If you don't know it, just go to YouTube and put in Arabic happy birthday).
This morning I slept till 9:00. I guess I was tired from the travel. I was perfectly warm in my bed with the heater on. Here are two photos of the sitting room outside my room. In the first photo, you can see the number 1 on the door to my room. The second photo is taken from the other side of the room. My door is on the left by the windows.
My room comes with breakfast each morning. I have a little card that they mark off for each breakfast. I had man2ouch because that's the typical Lebanese breakfast and Fadi told me he loves it. I didn't want the OJ and took it back and asked for a second cup of coffee. It's good that I drink black coffee because no one seems to ask if you want cream for your coffee - on the plane or in the cafe. They do serve cafe au lait, but it's not on the free breakfast menu.
Everyone smokes, even the lady cooking the man2ouche was smoking as she cooked. Here are some photos of my breakfast and the cafe.
The cafe is sort of half inside and half out. You can see where the ceiling ends and that they have those outdoor heaters. There is a tarp ceiling and plastic "walls". Maybe they take those away in summer. Through the doorway in the back is the bar where you order food. The man in the white shirt in the back was setting up a shisha pipe for someone.
I reread yesterday's post and realized I didn't show the entrance from the road. It's hard to find and you could easily walk right past it. When the taxi driver dropped me off, I said "You mean go down there???"
You go in behind the gray car. I keep reminding myself between the gas station and the red Christmas lights. (I don't think the lights show up in the photo, but they are on the greenery on the black building.
Then you go down the stairs.
Some prices:
From the little grocery:
6 pack of yogurts. 8,995 LB = $5.94
2 apples 1,423 LB = $.94
2 bell peppers 2497 LB = $1.65
Large bottle of water 5000 LB = $3.30
In the fast food place down the street (Spin the Hen)
Chicken sandwich. 6750 LB = $4.46
Small water. 1500 LB = $1
Language:
Everyone says "bonjour" and then talks to you in English. More signs are in English than in French, but most are in Arabic. Menus are in English and Arabic. They say "merci" for thank you, even when speaking Arabic. But when I say "merci" they answer "welcome".
Today in the little store, the man rang up my stuff and then told me the total in Arabic. I'm still adjusting to their money, so I wasn't sure I understood and asked in English for him to say it again. (I think even in English, it helps that you have an amount that you expect. You won't confuse 50 with 15 because only one makes sense for what you're buying). He apologized and then told me 5000 in English. I realized afterwards that he said hamza milles (at least I think so) First word Arabic, second word French. No wonder I didn't understand. But this is what I came to Lebanon to learn - the way people really talk, not the proper way that we spoke in class in Fez and Washington. Also, it made me happy that the man spoke to me in Arabic. Hopefully it means he thought I was Lebanese. In the US, French people often think I'm Lebanese when I talk to them in French. Lebanese people in the U.S. just look confused and ask me where I'm from.
New people
I know I'll meet people when I start classes tomorrow, but I feel like I've got to get started. This morning on my way to breakfast, there was someone in the sitting area and I introduced myself to her. Her name is Tory and she just got here yesterday, too. She is a law student at Berkeley (I told her my daughter-in-law goes there, too). There is a small group of them here to learn about Syrian refugees. They came yesterday and are here for just a week. Then, about 10 minutes ago, a woman knocked at my door. She was looking for the women's dorm. It turns out it's one of the rooms on the other side of the sitting room, but it was a chance to introduce myself to someone else. I forgot her name, though. It was an Arabic name and she wore a headscarf, but she's American. It made me remember when I first got to Fez and we were all new there. It was like the blind leading the blind. After a while we met a few oldies to learn from and we quickly became oldies ourselves.
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