A common project in the north district

As I have mentioned earlier in my blog, I have focused my work in the north region in the Lebanese Red Cross Youth, in addition to follow up the youth center in Balamand, I work with a common activity for the whole north district. The district has three centers, Koura, Balamand and Tripoli. They want to execute this activity because they want all the centers in the north to be more integrated with each other, to share their experiences and knowledge, and get a more collected and strong north.

The background is that they see a big need to collect the children and youth more together. There has been a tendency that children and youth are being separated in to which geographic area they come from, which also often tells you which group or religious belief you belong to. The Red Cross Youth wants to gather them with play and fun, at the same time tell about the Red Cross work, and do recruitment.

The activity is named velo paper, and it is a bike run within a given geographic area, where you bike a road which has been planned by the Red Cross youth volunteers, and where you meet different Red Cross stands on the way, on these stands there will be competitions and it will be told what the Red Cross Youth is. This is going to be executed twice, once in Tripoli and once in Koura. It is planned to be in the end of May, and I sit in the committee with center representatives so together this can be executed in a best way as possible.

A girls trip to Syria

Camilla has had for the past week visitors from Norway, so we found out we wanted to point our noses to the far east and explore the neighbour country. We left Friday morning each one with their back pack on their back, and we were on our way with our private taxi driver. The trip took a little bit longer time than expected due to the unexpected weather. The past days the sun has been shining, and suddenly the heavy rain came with fog over the mountains. It took around 3 ½ hours to get from Beirut to Damascus, where we were going to spend our time the next three days. We spend around 15 minutes on the boarder to Syria where they asked all kinds of questions. “Where are you going to live, how long are you staying, what are you doing there?” And so on…I got a flash back from the role play On the Run an activity which the Red Cross Youth in Norway has, and I laughed for myself, finding many similarities. To read more about On the Run click on this link: http://www.rodekorsungdom.no/English/Activities/The_Roleplay_On_the_run/

Text: Lunch in restaurant Leila with traditional Syrian food. On the pic from the left: Camilla, Leila, me and Kajsa.

Our plan was very simple, first we were going to find a hotel we could stay, find a restaurant to eat lunch and then explore the medina in the old city. This went smoothly, and we found a three star hotel (after some searching and help by the hostels we passed by), 100 dollars for to nights and for four persons, included breakfast, and this was not bad. Syria is much cheaper than Lebanon, and you can expect a very good dinner for only 3 dollars, you can also shop a lot of Arabic things for a cheaper amount of money than in Lebanon, so I had my shopping list ready already before my departure.

Text: Me in the old city, with the mosque of Umaayad in the background.

Damascus is one of the oldest city in the world, where there continuously has been living inhabitants. Totally there lives around 6 million people in the capital and the desert sand is floating in the wind. It was a different experience to walk in the street of Damascus than in Beirut, Syria is been seen as a more conservative country if you compare it to Lebanon, and it was exciting to see all the contrasts and to see maybe a more representative picture of the middle east.

Text: Me, Camilla and Kajsa inside the mosque of Umaayad , pay special attention to us looking like fishermen from the village.

We took the trip to the mosque of Umaayad, this is said to be the most famous and the biggest mosque of Islam. We were covered with very beautiful uniforms that was going to cover us. Look at the picture next to the text. This mosque is also rumoured with that the head of John the Baptist is lying inside the mosque, but that I did not see, so I have my suspicious mind.

Text: Me with a big coffee can where you can make turkish coffee. In the background you can see some plates that can be used as a table.

We walked in the old city all Saturday, and this day was dedicated for shopping, and not at least to try Syria’s best ice-cream, which has a very good reputation, “we just had to try that!” I came to obtain a very charming Arabic table, which consists of a copper plate with beautiful decorations and with separate wooden legs. It was absolutely beautiful, in addition I bought silk scarf, jewellery, fresh spices and some other small things.

Text: I put a closure with a picture with Kajsa and I eating famous ice cream with vanilla and pistachio nuts. mmmm

All in all it was a very good trip, and it really temps for reiteration, it is still so much more I want to see of Syria, and not at least things to buy! We’ll see if there will come up a new opportunity in a later occation, inshalla.

Red Cross Youth in Balamand

My work has been focused in the northern part of Lebanon, especially in Balamand, which lays around 10 km south east of Tripoli. Balamand center is a Red Cross Youth club which is centred in the University of Balamand .The center has around 20 volunteers, and they do activities within and outside the university campus. So here I will spend a lot of my time, where I go north at least once a week, and spend the night if necessary.

I had my first meeting with the volunteers on Thursday where we planned the coming UNICEF activity which they were going to have the next day for children in the age of 8-9 years old in a school close by. It was preparations to far out in the night, where we wanted to make all the material ready for the activity the following day, it was an excited team who wanted to do a tremendous work for the Red Cross. I spend the night in the home of the president of the youth club, his sister lives in Denmark and there was a lot of chat about Scandinavia, I was invited for Danish honey on white bread and to see pictures from our neighbour country.

We got up in the sunrise the next day to meet the volunteers and to go jointly to Koura, where the activity was going to be executed. I had slept half an hour, because I had gotten an eye infection that kept me up all night, I took myself together and made myself ready to meet the 65 kids that waited for us, and who were going to go through a tight program of activities. They actively participated for knowledge about nutrition and hygiene. There were six stands, and I got the responsibility to lead 10 wonderful kids through all these. Luckily they spoke English and they were extremely obedient where they walked on a strict line. I had a great time with them, and off course I got some time to play a little bit with them.

The soundtrack of Beirut

This is a selection of songs that has a special memory function for me over here, many of them are songs I listened to a lot in the beginning, and which I have attached an extra feeling for. I have not got lost in the trance syndrome that is specially spread in this country. I was told when I arrived to Lebanon – just wait, you will like it in the end. But I have still not….

Concerning The Ufo Sighting Near Highland, Il - Sufjan Stevens
“When the revenant came down. We couldn't imagine what it was. In the spirit of three stars. The alien thing that took its form. Then to Lebanon. Oh, God. The flashing at night, the sirens grow and grow. Oh, history involved itself. Mysterious shade that took its form. Or what it was, incarnation. Three stars. Delivering signs and dusting from their eyes.”

Lemontree – Fool’s garden
This is a song I’ve not heard since I was a child before I arrived to Lebanon, it is a song that is frequently played, and it is a big hit on karaoke and radio. It always creates a very good atmosphere, people sing for full throat when it comes on in Moloko, the pub where we go to sing karaoke.

The road to freedom – Chris De Burgh

The first months I was here and got to know our good friend Elie, he played this song all the time, specially when the dark had set in and we drove on our way back home and took a little sighteeing in Beirut. This song brings me back to many memories of my first impressions of Beirut, and how I thought my life would be here in Lebanon.

Leaving on a jetplane – John Denver
This song is specially attached to the prepatory course before my departure to Lebanon where there were many tensed and eager emotions in me. And this song has been with me as a special friend on my journey. This is a song I think I will never get sick of.

Rat Race – Bob Marley
I never believed that I would ever become a reggae fan, those of you who know me from home know that I don’t listen that much to this type of music. But over here it has been played quite a lot of reggae music, where both Camilla and Elie are big reggae fans. And I have grown in my taste of music.

Regy – Arabisk song
This was the first arabic song I could recognize, there are not many of those, and all off course contain the words habibi and Hebak/ik. I remember when we went on a mission with save the children, this song was played many times in the bus, in the big excitement for the kids, where they danced and sang for us. So when I hear this song now, I get excited because I can actually recognize it and follow the song. Arabic song are specially popular in the nightlife of Beirut and when the clock passes 00 it is good to know some Arabic moves and lyrics (at least to hum a little bit).

Jack Johnson
This is Camillas cartrack nr one when we are out driving, and also mine. I memorize the time when we took a trip to Jbeil for the beach, and when we drove south from Tripoli to Beirut, tired after a long day out on mission, while we hum loud to Jack Johnsons velvet voice.

I build this garden for us – Lenny Kravitz
“In this garden. They'll be no war. No racial prejudice. You'll be my brother. Of any color.
You'll just be okay with us. We'll live each day in peace. In hope that we will one day reach
The rest of the world. When they are ready to be teached”

Official opening of the norwegian embassy in Lebanon

Picture taken on "by the way" here you see Camilla and I with the Norwegian flag in the back ground.

We were invited for a celebration, it was the official opening of the Norwegian embassy in Lebanon, the embassy was opened the 22^nd of October 2007, and the ambassador will be approved when the new president is elected and approved her, inshallah, I hope that this date will come very soon.

The opening took placee in a Norwegian owned pub called “by the way” where they actually sells Norwegian waffles. It was a big surprise for me that there were so many Norwegians in Lebanon, I guessed there were around 30 Norwegians in this country, but after I talked to the internship (that turned out to be from Ålesund) there are as many as 70 people here.

It was strange to be surrounded by so many people speaking Norwegian, and I must say it would actually be more comfortable to speak in English. It was served food with a loud speaking crowd present. We mingled around and tried as best as we could to talk to many people. The most people living and working here are on different missions through helping organisations, like for example Norwegian refugee council, the UN and ect. It was really nice to meet Norwegians again, and it temps for repetitions.

A trip down to south Lebanon

Tuesday was the big day, when Camilla and I finally could take the trip down to south Lebanon. We have been travelling around big parts of the country before, but unluckily we haven’t made it to the south. We were invited for a whole day where we first visited a school around a 15 minute drive away from Bernt Jbeil, where the Red Cross Youth had made a theatre about environment for the kids in the school. The school had been bombed during the July war and the Red Cross had helped the school with new equipments.

The trip went further on to Bertn Jbeil, where we visited a medical social clinic. They offered doctor and dentist services for the local community. This was the only medical clinic in the local community, because the hospital was not up running yet.

We went to a small village on our way back to Beirut to visit some relatives to one of those who came with us on the trip. There we got tea, sweets and fresh almonds, the hospitality in Lebanon is incredible, and specially when we come out on the countryside. I feel I am getting really good care of, and I feel warmth deep in to my heart.

On our way back to Beirut we stopped in Nabatiyeh where we ate some lunch. Then we once again were back in Beirut, where we spent the rest of the day babysitting a little puppy named Oleo, Ann Katherines dog.

A new bomb in the suburb of Beirut....

Published Friday, January 25, 2008

Many people ask me how it feels like to live in such a stable unstable country as Lebanon, don’t I get scared? Today there has been a new bomb in the suburb of Beirut. Where in this writing moment, 11 human lifes has been taken, and 16 more have been wounded. It is terrible, and my heart really goes to those who are touched by this. You can see that the Red Cross is really working hard to alleviate the human suffering. The red cross is shown in every news where they help the affected.

Many impressions the people at home in Norway have, is that Lebanon is under continuously war fighting in the street, something they often get reminded of in the news and other media. This is not my impression of my reality here. It feels just as surrealistic to watch the news on tv in our apartment in Beirut, to see what is happening in the same city you live in. I haven’t been directly affected by any of these tragically accidents, and I follow the security restrictions that’s been given. I feel very safe walking in the streets of Beirut, I actually feel safer here than walking in the street of Oslo one late afternoon.

To the question if I am afraid? I haven’t been afraid up to now, I feel my security has been taken very good care off by the International Federation of the RC societies. I really trust them to make the right decisions when it comes to our security, and if you in addition has a good common sense and do not take any unnecessary risks, you have a very good starting point. It is a different random crime you meet here then in Norway, but as long as you follow the instructions you are pretty safe.

Back in Beirut

Published Tuesday, January 8, 2008

I arrived the Lebanese soil Thursday night, after spending the christmas vacation in Norway. It felt good when I saw the nightlights in Beirut city from the plane. It was a joyful reception at the Hariri airport, where Camilla and Elie came and picked me up. I was very happy to be back, where I now would start once again my every day life here in Lebanon. I started my work already at Friday after a long vacation with my family, and at the same time I had to go through the cultural differences once again. I had already been through this when I arrived to Norway, I remember I was really confused when I didn’t know where I’d put the toilet paper in Gardermoen (Oslo, airport), there was no trash can for the toilet paper. I thought to myself “it is going in the toilet” and I laughed out loud to myself. It took a couple of days before I got used to the Lebanese style again, and I am now in to the more routine every day life again, it was good after I’d reloaded my batteries at home.

I can feel that the temperature outside is getting colder, even though the thermometer shows 14-18˚ celcius (which for us who comes from the west coast of Norway often would have called summer) I have taken out my wool underwear, and turned on the AC to heat up. The houses are not well isolated, so it actually feels colder inside, than it is outside. And yet they say that the coldest month has not arrived, already I walk around full dressed in the streets, with scarf, gloves and a hat, I am actually more dressed than the regular Lebanese person I meet on the street. I find this funny, because I come from the so called cold North, where we for some people are immune to the cold.

A closer look to Baalbek

Published Friday, December 14, 2007

After a conversation with Nasma, a Red Cross Youth volunteer from Baalbek, a Thursday in the office, we got invited to Baalbek to meet the volunteers there. We thought this was a great idea, and we wanted to travel already the up coming weekend. Since we were not that familiar with driving out of Beirut, we chose a route we knew, this showed up to be not as easy as we thought. The road signs were in Arabic and the roads were splitting without any pre notice, this resulted that we got lost a few times. Luckily we have a Red Cross car, which make me feel very safe. After a three and a half hour ride with endless phone conversations with Nasma we arrived late, but safe. We were met by the local Red Cross Youth committee in a restaurant, where we ate a delicious Lebanese meal. We were invited to Nasmas home where we were going to spend the night. The house was so cosy, with a warm fireplace in the living room. Outside it was really cold, and the wool underwear from Norway was well used.

Sunday morning we woke up early, and we were real tourists, with the camera close to the hand and good walking shoes. Baalbek is a historical city, with temples from the old roman times. Baalbek was the religious capital, and it was decorated with beautiful temples in the honour of the gods, and all of this was really well preserved. You can see from the picture how amazing it was. After the temple visit we went to see the largest rock in the world, which was cut out from the mountain, this was meant to be used on the temple we was in earlier, but it was left as an extra resource. We closed the trip by going back to Nasmas place where we ate a traditional Lebanese farmers meal, ktir tajib.

The Lebanese independence day

Published Thursday, November 22, 2007

This should be a day were everyone was celebrating, with military parades in the street and with the flags waving in the sky. But the streets today are very quiet, or at least the streets we’ve been in. The presidential election that was supposed to be yesterday, has been post pond again. The election has been post pond until the coming Saturday, and the situation is very tensed. After a security briefing with the head of delegation, IFRC, we have gotten some security restrictions to keep a low profile, and report any movement out of neighbourhood. I can see that the streets are being filled up with military and police patrolling and observing, especially around the various parliament buildings. The Lebanese I am in contact with are busy continuing their everyday life, and they rather don’t want to speak about what’s going on. The questions arise, will they reach a consensus? Will we get to governments, or will we get an ad-hoc military regime? It is hard to give an analysis of what is going to happen. Up to now, no one knows. I really hope that a consensus will take place, and that Lebanon will get a peaceful end. Anyway I would like to congratulate Lebanon with its independence day, despite the political situation.

Almost like a day along the west coast of Norway

Published Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Now the winter has started to set in. Tonight it was almost impossible to sleep, even for those who have a good sleeping heart. It lightened and thundered all the way through the late night hours. At first I didn’t hear it, because I slept when it started. I woke up when Camilla really carefully knocked on my door, she asked if I didn’t want to plug out the electricity. I didn’t understand anything, I was still half asleep, I said yes and saw that she (kind as she is) plugged out all the contacts. The flashlight stood as it had own feet to stand on, I almost thought that someone stood on my porch taking photos. This resulted in rain all day. The streets are wet and slippery. And I can feel that the air is cleaner. I got a memoryflash that I walked in the streets of Bergen (the city where I study in Norway), wearing a raincoat and with wet skin, and everything felt like home. I almost hope it will rain some more. (crazy, but true)

Beirut marathon, 18th november

Published monday 19th of november

Beirut has an annual marathon that crosses Beirut city. This is a big happening where the Red Cross attends each year with their message. This year the focus was on AIDS, the motto was “Discrimination is more painful than AIDS” We were around 300 souls from the Red Cross Youth that walked the mini marathon of 10 km. Everyone was dressed in similar t-shirts and carried balloons marked with the AIDS ribbon. In addition there was a big banner that was carried of the volunteers. There were incredibly many that walked the marathon together, I was numbered 29 528, and then you can imagine how many that participated.

I followed the run in big excitement, I took on my best walking shoes and my good mood. The starting was at 7 in the morning at the headquarter, and we all walked from there, with lots of good spirit. All the roads where the marathon crossed, was made into pedestrian streets, and the street I live in (Hamra) was one of the roads that was closed. This was a strange feeling, because suddenly there were no cars and no hooting with the car horns (this street is usually always packed up with traffic). For each sign appeared showing how many kilometres you had walked, was met with a big cheer. I fought my way through with blisters under my feet and it was good to reach the end, where we got a medallion (that was a medallion from last years marathon, but that doesn’t matter). In all I walked around 20 km, something that felt really good. It felt good to be a part of something bigger, and it felt good to show the Red Cross.

An adventorous day in Beirut

Published Monday, November 12, 2007

I can’t believe it has already passed two months in this charming country. Now things are normalizing in to every day life, things has become more a routine, nothing feels that new anymore. If I was to explain to you how a normal day in my life is, this would be it. After a night where I have fought against giant mosquitoes I open my eyes, very tired, after I’ve been snoozing for ten minutes. I fight myself going up from my bed, and I realize I don’t have that much time as I thought anyway. I stumble into the bathroom where I do my daily routines. Ten to nine I run out of the front door, this day I’ve decided I am going to be on the right time to my Arabic class. I have gotten too used to the Lebanese time measurement, and I am almost always five minutes too late. Straight at once when I reach the street I hear the hopeful voice of “taxi taxi” and I try patiently to show them the sign that I don’t need it. Three hours of Arabic lies ahead of me, and I try as best as I can to come up with some good phrases. “Sabakh al kher” (good morning in Arabic) and try to remember all the glossary that I memorized yesterday. After three intense hours (where Camilla and I are the only students) where we have been conjugating many verbs it is time to go to the office. The first person we meet is Achmed which is the telephone operator in the headquarter he sits in the first floor. He always smiles and is happy every time we greet him in Arabic, marhaba kifak, how are you? (good day, how are you? ) I walk the two stairs up to the youth department and I meet several colleagues on my way, the same sentences are repeated. I reach the office and there’s Therese, our contact person, and greets us. Kifik, how are you today? I greet back and sit down trying to work on my laptop. The internet connection is relatively bad, and I try to be patient when I am working on the net. At two o clock everyone leaves the office, I am trying to stay a little bit longer. After a whilw the clock shows too much and it is time for me to go home, I usually walk home, it takes me around twenty minutes. In the afternoon I go to a café called Graffiti, that by walk is only two minutes away from my apartment. There I have spent a lot of time, money and gotten to know a lot of people. There I sit for a few hours, sometimes I sit there until they close. Often we have late meetings with the volunteers in the Red Cross, which make me spend the late hours in graffiti. I walk home and try to remember some of the Arabic glossary I learned earlier today. It is time to go to bed, and to fight those giant mosquitoes once again.

Published Thursday, November 1, 2007

23 years old and am a big girl now!

The picture: Friends and acquaintances from Lebanon on my birthday, taken on our porch.

First of all, thank you to everyone for all the attention I got on my birthday! It was so incredibly nice. I have had an amazing celebration over here. I have now been celebration for four days, something that can be a little bit too much. It all started on Sunday before the big day, where I was on a workshop in Harisa with the volunteers in the Red Cross Youth. During the lunch I got a cake for desert, not to eat, but to get it all over my face, something that was a different experience from what I am used to. I heard that the crème is supposedly very good for the skin, thank you!! No more moisturizer for me anymore..hehe

The big day was celebrated with a gathering of friends in our apartment. After a bravely try of baking my grandmothers chocolate cake in the gas oven with no thermometer, we got a burned bottom, but otherwise a very good cake!! (thank you for helping me Camilla!!)

My good husband was incredibly good to me all the day, she woke me up for breakfast and had hidden small surprises for me in the apartment, and she was a brilliant hostess during the night. Shukran ktir habibti!! After the party we went out with good friends.

The last two days we’ve been eating dinner and cake. Today Camilla and I surprised the others in the office where we invited all our colleagues and volunteers for cake, this was a big success. It is always fun to do something that is not expected and that will please the others.

Monday, October 15, 2007

Then it has passed one month in this beautiful country. We have spend this time to get to know the Lebanese Red Cross Youth in the best way as possible, and to get to know the Lebanese way to live their life. There are a lot of exiting things that is happening in the Red Cross Youth, last weekend we participated on a workshop in PPP (Planning Project Programme) which is a tool for strategy and planning. We got to know four out of the five programs the youth has here. The programs are, exploring humanitarian law, environment, prison, AIDS and traffic safety. It was very useful, we got to know a lot about the programs, we got to meet the volunteers, and practice some of our Arabic we so far have learned. The learning of Arabic goes in slow motion, but I proudly say a full sentence here and there. We are having Arabic classes three hours per day, four days a week, the rest of our day we spend our time in meetings of different kind.

Up to now Camilla and I are members in the organization development (OD) committee, the weekends from now on will be used to visit all the different districts to hold workshops for the volunteers. We have set a personal goal to visit all the youth centers in Lebanon, there are totally 34 centers.

This weekend was off, and we went straight to the beach. The weather is still very warm, it is around 30 degrees celcius. They say that in a couple of weeks it will get colder and start to rain. So we took advantage of this and went to the beach. It was incredible.

First meeting with Beirut.

Published Wednesday, 19^th September.

Where can I begin, we arrived Beirut the night to Tuesday, to be exact at 04 am in the morning. We were received by the welcome committee that took us straight away to our new home. The apartments is in rue Hamra (Hamra means red in Arabic, and where now is Hamra, there was a big red sand mountain, in the earlier days way back in time) Hamra is a shopping street, which can be compared to many European countries. They have Starbucks, Vero Moda, internet cafes, shops ect. In addition the IFRC (international federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent societies) office is only two blocks away from our apartment, and the head quarter of the Lebanese Red Cross, is not that far away. It feels like a relatively safe street to live in.

Beirut is an adventurous city, it is something quite different to be here and to explore the life here, than it is to see it on the tv in our safe home in Norway. There are a lot of people in the streets, cars hooting their horn, a lot of life and laughter, people that are very friendly and open, and they make you feel very welcome here.

I can imagine that this is going to be nine very exciting months, and I am looking forward to get to know the Lebanese Red Cross, the volunteers, and meet the challenges that will come on my way.

Welcome to my english blog

These contributions has been translated from my norwegian blog: www.trudeilibanon.blogspot.com, that is why that the date on the first contributions are not on correct date, up to the date of 25th of january.