Birthday :)

Dear all,

First: thank you for the nice birthday wishes! I was very happy to receive so many messages from my family and friends in the Netherlands and abroad! My birthday was wonderful! I wish I could invite you all to celebrate with me in Lebanon. In my personal opinion: June 12th is the best time of the year to visit this country! Not only will you find me in an very good mood (as unlike most people I know I love getting older haha ;) but also you’ll find Lebanon in a very good mood! I spend a hasty morning at work before leaving around 12 for a lunch in Batroun, a city more North in Lebanon (but not as far North as Tripoli ;) This time of the year I have a love-hate relationship with the weather on the middle of the day…. When I take my first steps outside the air-conditioned office the warm sun in the dark blue sky make me smile every time and the warm breeze feels like a thin blanket. However, before I turned the corner at the end of the street I sweat and I pant, wishing I could kick off the blanket and pull some clouds in front of that overenthusiastic sun. Anyway, back to Batroun… I love this town because of the quiet and friendly atmosphere. Unlike Beirut the buildings in Batroun are low and the roads are empty. It has a lovely church with a small courtyard overlooking the endless dark sea under a clear sky. Absolutely wonderful! When we arrived around 13.30 the strong sun had driven most people of the streets and even the restaurant was empty except for two elderly men playing Backgammon and drinking Arak. We sat at the end of a wooden platform going into the sea, eating fish and drinking wine. The sea breeze was not like a cover at all and even the sun seemed to have relaxed a little (of course I still got a bit of a sunburn). Around four we left the seaside to have homemade ice cream at another seemingly abandoned restaurant inside the town. The quietness and laziness of the afternoon in Batroun got me all relaxed (though it might also have had something to do with all that food in my stomach) which lasted until we were back in Beirut. I had a birthday drink in a crowed little street filled with bars full of people watching football (I’m very sorry about he Dutch team losing so much by the way, I had a bad feeling about this competition so I wanted to avoid it, but unfortunately no such thing is possible in a city full of football-lovers, especially for the German team for some reason…).
All in all I had a wonderful day and I was really happy to have some many people remember me turning 25 (probably also thanks to facebook, but no less sincere ;)

My work on the review project will most likely come to an end in mid July, when I will return to the Netherlands for a vacation. In August I will return to Beirut, though I do not yet know if I will have a job here by then…. The same insecurity I have learned to live with over the last year and a half, but I think it is time for a change because I need more stability then a 3-months contract when I get older ;) We will see what the future brings but for now I am optimistic I’ll be able to find something else to do either in Lebanon or in the region.

Thank you all for reading and please stay in touch, don’t wait until June 12th 2013 ;)
Marlies