Beirut et cetera

So I went to Beirut for the weekend and had a great time. Took very few pictures. Was busy. Found the place a strange mix of new & old; found myself standing in front of the shelled Holiday Inn in the middle of downtown and trying to understand why, some time ago, people were firing rockets at this building, but now they are not, and I am standing quite safely on the corner viewing the evidence. What makes the difference between then and now?

Things you must do in every country: visit the casino, and visit the McDonald's. I shall report:

A) McDonald's. Menu the same as in UAE - McArabia burger menu speciality. Nice view of corniche/sea. Mmmm.

B) Casino. Large, busy - gambling occurs in Lebanese Pounds, and the exchange rate allows me to sit down with my 100,000 worth of chips and casually toss out 10, 20, or 30,000 on a bet. Sheeet, I'll even double-down and make it 60,000. Let's live dangerously! (Total USD hanging in the balance: $66.)

Unfortunately fell a bit ill before coming home, spent two days feeling under the weather. But didn't catch the swines, so that's good.

Headed to Beirut This Weekend

After living in Dubai for a year and a half, it started to bother me that I haven't seen any other cities/countries in the region. So after receiving a random e-mail promoting a super discount airfare to Beirut, I decided to go ahead and book myself a weekend.

I'm leaving Thursday afternoon from work - all by myself! - and am looking forward to checking out the city and doing some reading/relaxing/shopping/et cetera.

I also went ahead and signed up for salsa lessons, in an effort to get myself out of the house more often. I'm curious how it will go. :) There is a Cuban guy here in Dubai who gives lessons out of the Community Center.

Other than that, life is normal - except that everybody at work seems to be coming down with swine flu, which an extraordinary pain in the rear. I do not want to get sick!! I do not want to get sick!! I do not!!