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.