Life in Beirut

Well, what can I say. This is probably the weirdest situation I have been in, in all the 15 years I've been here. We have lived under bombing and attacks, and I have previously had to stock up supplies 'just in case', but we have never been so closed down as we are this time. We have not left our area now for three days. We are the fortunate ones to be where we are, which is probably one of the safest suburbs in Beirut. It is very strange to be looking at the footage on TV and thinking, 'Oh yes, I know where that is'. I had to go to the supermarket this morning and I was not sure what I would find as the Lebanese are much quicker to go fill their cupboards and petrol tanks, and even on Wednesday, there were a lot of empty spaces on the shelves. Thankfully, I was able to get most of what I needed and we are the lucky ones to be living where we are with a large generator that can run the fridge. Most of my other friends are stuck with buying dry and canned goods as there is not a lot of electricity at the moment. We are also blessed that we have alot of our friends nearby and so can still see them. We had an American and an Irish friend over last night. I think they appreciated having a local be able to translate all that was being shown on telly. I was able to talk to Barb's friends this morning and they still hope to be able to leave through Damasc. tomorrow. The airline told them that they should still be able to fly out from there as they already have tickets. They are at a premium at the moment as all our tourists flee through there. It is a disaster for Lebanon economically and Wadih is quite depressed about losing another summer season. Despite all that, and his statements, I'm sorry, but I still do not want to leave. I would so feel like I was abandoning the Lebanese people who don't have the option of running away to another country, and my home. Who knows what will happen in the future.
And having said all that, the kids and I were able to enjoy a lovely afternoon with Annette and the kids at a local water park yesterday. It was a bit surreal to be sitting pool side, watching the runway go up in a puff of fire and smoke and listening to the planes flying over and bombing, but I still think it was better for the kids to be occupied and for us to be there instead of sitting inside glued to the TV news all day.
We love you all and it is always nice to be able to talk to you. I will try to keep you all posted here if anything else exciting happens, presuming we continue to have electricity and internet connections. Keep praying for Lebanon. God Bless. Lindy