Lebanon
Blogging Beirut
Submitted by Palmito on November 22, 2006 - 00:55.I talked briefly about Lebanon - I was born there, but left when I was five. I have no deep connection, though there are things about Lebanese culture that have remained part of my life for decades now. The recent war made this distance/familiarity even more striking, and I was glad that some semblance of peace had returned to Lebanon.
Or has it?
Lebanon
Submitted by Palmito on September 29, 2006 - 04:58.I was born in Beirut, in 1972, of US parents living abroad. I lived there until 1977, five years that I barely remember. When I was born, Beirut was still the Paris of the Mediterranean. My parents still remember it as such. For me, it's a bit more of a difficult thing to comprehend.
I'm not Lebanese, yet because of where and how I grew up, Mediterranean culture - and in particular specific things about Lebanese culture - are very familiar and even feel like "home" to me. Not a home I can physically visit, but how chicken soup is often thought of as "home" - for some people. This familiarity reinforced growing up in a series of Mediterranean as well as Middle Eastern countries while I was young.
I'm not Lebanese, yet because of where and how I grew up, Mediterranean culture - and in particular specific things about Lebanese culture - are very familiar and even feel like "home" to me. Not a home I can physically visit, but how chicken soup is often thought of as "home" - for some people. This familiarity reinforced growing up in a series of Mediterranean as well as Middle Eastern countries while I was young.
