Beirut Local Customs

4 more images

Visa Issuance for Eu citizens :
Visa required, except for Nationals of EU traveling

as tourist can obtain a visa on arrival at Beirut (BEY), for a
max. stay of 3 months, provided holding confirmed
return/onward tickets, and a telephone number and address in

Lebanon. Fee: free of charge for stays up to 1 month and
between LBP 50,000.- and LBP 100,000.- for stays up to 3
months.

Hello : Marhaba
How are you? : kifak
I am good : mashi al hal,
How much :kam
Please : min fadlik
You are welcome: Afwan
far: baa id
Near : arib
beautiful : jamil
Money : masari
Why : lesh
Where are you from:min wen inta
I am from America,Holland: ana min America,Hollanda

Mate in Arabic (mati)is south American drink but very popular drink in Lebanon,
Is drunk with Massasa (strow )and hot water.
Those who share the mate join in a kind of bond of total acceptance and friendship.

some of the benefits of drinking yerba mate tea.
1. Rich in Antioxidants

Yerba mate tea is very high in antioxidants; it's got about 90% more antioxidants than green tea. Yerba mate has significant immune boosting properties. It can slow the signs of aging, detoxify the blood and prevent many types of cancer. Yerba mate also helps reduce stress and insomnia.
2. Enhances Your Ability to Focus

Proponents of yerba mate tea say that the minerals, vitamins, antioxidants, animo acids and polphenols found in this beverage have a balancing effect on the caffeine it contains. Users report increased mental energy, clarity and focus, but they also say that yerba mate doesn't cause any of the uncomfortable side effects associated with drinking caffeinated beverages, such as headaches, stomachaches and jitters.
3. Enhances Physical Endurance

The chemical compounds and nutrients in yerba mate tea affect your metabolism to make your body use carbohydrates more efficiently. This means you'll get more energy from the food you eat. You'll also burn more of the calories your body has stored in fat cells as fuel when you drink yerba mate tea regularly. Regular yerba mate consumption also helps keep lactic acid from building up in your muscles so you can decrease post workout soreness and cut your recovery time.
4. Aids Digestion

The native peoples of South America have long used yerba mate tea as a traditional herbal remedy against digestive ailments. Yerba mate aids digestion by stimulating increased production of bile and other gastric acids. Yerba mate helps keep your colon clean for effective and efficient waste elimination, and helps reduce the stomach bacteria that can contribute to bad breath.
5. Helps You Control Your Weight

Native South American peoples have traditionally used yerba mate as part of a lifestyle that includes a healthy diet and exercise. Yerba mate has stimulant qualities to help you feel full sooner after you begin eating, and it slows your digestion so that your stomach stays full longer. Combining yerba mate with a healthy diet and regular exercise can help boost your metabolism to burn more calories, and it can help you eat less by curbing your appetite slightly.
6. Supports Cardiovascular Health

The antioxidants and amino acids present in yerba mate help fat and cholesterol move through your bloodstream so that they don't accumulate on artery walls. Yerba mate also helps prevent arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) and prevents blood clots that may cause heart attack or stroke

Lebanese people are very patriotic and take each chance to promote their local products. This is why, you can't leave Lebanon without enjoying at least a glass of their Almaza beer.

Just to prove the above, read the joke below, very famous among Lebanese:

"4 leaders of big beer companies meet for a drink. The president of Budweiser orders a Bud. Miller's president orders a Millers and the president of Heineken orders a Coors. When it is Almaza's president's turn to order, he orders a soda. Why didn't you order Almaza everyone asks? Nah, he replies. If you guys aren't having a beer, neither will I."

Travelers wishing to enter Lebanon must possess a valid passport with a visa obtained beforehand from a Lebanese embassy or consulate abroad. However, many visitors from other Arab states, the USA, and from Western Europe can buy their visas upon arrival at the international airport in Beirut. If you are arriving by boat, the ship will make the necessary registration on your behalf. When we landed in Beirut on a recent cruise, the ship kept our passports, and we were given a photocopy with copy of the visa attached. But, when we left, we got our passports back with no Lebanese stamp to say we had either entered or left the country. It was very strange. However, if you have an Israeli stamp in your passport you will be denied a visa, as the two countries are still technically at war with one another. If you plan to visit Isreal and Lebanon, have the Israeli authorities stamp a piece of paper to carry in your passport, instead of your passport itself. Or you can visit other Arab countries first, and then visit Isreal, if you do not intend to return.

4 more images

You don't rebuild an entire country after 25 years of civil war in a week. In particular, you don't do it when the next twenty years are frought with civil strife, political crises, unresolved refugee issues and foreign invasions and occupations. This is all to say that no visitor Beirut or Lebanon as a whole should expect not to find scars of the past or blatant examples of the destruction brought about by the conflict that engulfed this small nation for two and a half decades. A huge amount of money has been invest in rebuilding the country, large portions of which have come from wealthy Lebanese investors who made their money in the West or the Gulf. Investors also play political games, so money has come from the US, France, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Iran at various times as a means of buoying specific factions. The result is a motley spectacle of development and reconstruction, from the decrepit refugee camps of Sabra and Shtila to the gleaming office towers and shopping malls around Sahet an-Nejmeh. In Beirut, sometimes the best models for your photographs are the buildings that surround you and the voids that remain after the war.

4 more images

Known for its beautiful mansions with red tiled roofs and Gothic windows, Beirut has seen many of them disappear over the years to make way for new developments. Such is the story all over the world, but Beirut's case is more pronounced because it had a civil war. Though many of the remaining Beiruti mansions have since been restored, a greater number is now once again being destroyed. This is in large part because of the hot property boom in recent years in the city, where wealthy Gulf citizens and Lebanese expatriates are willing to spend millions for large apartments with views. The result is that sought-after neighbourhoods, such as Achrafieh, are seeing their mansions vanish at an accelerating rate in favour of high tower blocks. Not only is this a great loss for the city architecturally, but also in terms of its gardens, skyline, sea breeze and general aesthetics; the city's tiny streets are being suffocated. I came across the attached graffiti on the walls of an Achrafieh mansion about to be destroyed. Clearly, awareness is there, but not the laws or will by developers to preserve the old. The attached photos also show views over Achrafieh in June 2006, compared with Dec 2009 with all the modern new towers.

The travelogue: "Traditional Beiruti Architecture" shows some examples of the city's heritage.

On my first visit to Lebanon in March 2005, I had the opportunity to see the country during interesting times. Demonstrations were being held at Place des Martyrs on a daily basis in which people demanded "the truth" about the assassination of Rafic Hariri a month earlier. It was wonderful to see the Lebanese fully (or mostly?) united for the first time in decades, regardless of religion or sect (see attached photo)! At the time, Lebanon was still under the control of Syria, which was allegedly blamed - justly or not? - for the assassination of Hariri. The demonstrations ultimately led to the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon, and although everyone rejoiced, the untold reality is that the Syrian presence had helped to maintain a certain stability and a controlled peace in the country. Unfortunately, Lebanon then slowly slipped into instability which culminated in 2006 with a full on Israeli invasion, followed by a political crisis which only began to be resolved at the end of 2008. Although some tensions remain, the situation is now fortunately very peaceful (as of early 2010) and inshallah (as the Lebanese say) it will continue.

One of the most important saints in eastern churches, Saint George, the dragon slayer, also happens to be the patron saint of Beirut. Here and in churches around the world, he is always depicted riding a horse and fighting the dragon, which according to one local legend, occurred right here in Beirut (was it at the Bay of Saint George?). Saint George's Day is celebrated in churches on the 23rd April, both in the Middle East and in Europe, where his legend was brought back by the Crusaders. Born in Palestine, the saint is said to have been martyred around 300 AD during the time of Emperor Diocletian. His importance to the region, and to Beirut in particular, explains why there are so many churches dedicated to him in Beirut. A large mosaic depicting his fight is also proudly displayed at Place de l'Etoile next to the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of Saint George.

Solidere is the name of the urban renewal project for the reconstruction of Downtown Beirut or BCD, following the destruction inflicted by the Civil War. Solidere, which was founded in 1994, is an acronym for Societe Libanese pur le Developpement et la Reconstruction du Centre-Ville de Beyrouth - you can see why it needs an acronym.

They seem to be doing a great job. I was really impressed by the elegant new buildings in and around Place d'Etoile.