On Friday, I decided to skip the lectures and the movie and immerse myself in the experience of returning to high school and to Beirut itself. I sat under the tree in the courtyard where we spent countless recesses. Alan Whitman and I were once trying to remember what kind of tree this was (via e-mail). For his benefit, I will tell you that it is, and the three other trees in the courtyard are, carob. Some enterprising person/janitor has placed a blue, plastic bag in the hollow of the tree, no doubt to preempt students from throwing trash in there irretrievably (see it behind Lynn?). While Lynn, Gail, and I sat there in the courtyard reminiscing, the bell rang for recess and the students poured out of the academic building to congregate by the lockers. Instantly, we were transported back in time. Locker doors clanged. Students called back and forth. Chaos reigned. This could be our recess...We wandered over to what had been the boys' dormitory. It now houses administrative offices. Gone is the window where the boarders used to sign in and out. Gone is the window where Nimr (Jaba the Hut) used to sit, answering the telephone and keeping an eye on people entering and leaving the building. Instead, there is a guard hut just by the gate. There is another guard hut on the other side of the academic building. No one is allowed on campus without some form of identification. (We were given lanyards with our personal information in our welcome packets. Some people's ID cards had pictures of themselves taken from some ancient yearbooks. (A few had the wrong pictures. Oh well...)
The current headmaster, George Damon, lives with his family in the penthouse. There is a brand new ACS sign in front of the old boys' BD (boarding department) . Instead of the table to the right, there is a spiffy, new fountain surrounded by flags. The bench to the left of the BD entrance, where we sat so often - waiting for meals, waiting to sign out, or just hanging out - still exists. Frozen in time. There is no girls' BD. The building is still there, but it's not part of ACS any more. Kameel's shop is gone. So are Eddy's and Washington's hang outs.After immersing ourselves in ACS again, as if it had been an instant ago that we were students here, we walked down to the Corniche (the walkway along the water). There is a new Hard Rock Café down near the St. George Hotel and we wanted to buy t-shirts to take home. (How many people do you know with a Hard Rock Café Beirut shirt???) As we strolled along the railing by the glittering Mediterranean, we observed all the construction on the other side of the street: High rises everywhere, interspersed by a few old buildings. On our way back, we noticed an overgrown piece of property, squeezed between taller buildings, that had a single story shack on it. Must be hold-outs ("I've lived here all my life and I'm not selling to some rich, Arab sheik - over my dead body!") We inadvertently walked through a movie set of some kind. Luckily, no one was filming at the exact moment that we ambled by, but the high intensity lights had been turned on. Maybe it's the sequel to "Syriana"... George Clooney, where are you?
Corniche, the MovieThe Corniche has become a busy, built-in fitness club. The original "24 hour fitness". People regularly jog and exercise here. A young woman rollerbladed past us. As you can see by the picture, a man wandered by looking very over-heated (notice the t-shirt on his head??).
Rollerblading on the Corniche
Fishing off the Rocks(is that guy naked???)
Once we made our Hard Rock purchases and walked back on the other side of the Corniche, we entered the AUB (American University of Beirut) campus, showing our ID badges as we passed the guard. Trudging up the stairs, we came to the familiar banyan tree and then exited the main gate onto Rue Bliss. You can still get a great shawarma here, at Bliss House. It's just a little more organized and a slightly bigger establishment. Now you pay at the cash register on one side of the stand and retrieve your shawarma on the other. You can have chicken or beef. (Could it be camel?? We never quite knew for sure...) Fresh orange juice is offered at many shops. Though I didn't see any carts uptown for orange juice, there was one down on the Corniche (see photo above). I bought some green plums from a guy with a cart. Remember the green plums that would give you a tummy ache if you ate too many?
The Banyan Tree
Rue BlissKhayat's Bookstore had been closed the last time I went by, but this time it was open. We ducked inside to marvel at the musty books and the equally musty proprietors. A circular rack still contained postcards from the 60's. What a blast from the past! It was here back in 1967 that I purchased the required pocket dictionary for 7th grade English. Not only did it accompany me all the way through ACS, but, I still have it! (Each year, under the name on the fly page, I scratched out the previous grade and wrote in the new one.) I also have the thesaurus that went with the dictionary. That's in better shape 'cause I didn't use it as much.
Khayat's Bookstore
We made our way up Jeanne D 'Arc Street to the Mayflower, our hotel, and had a little siesta before getting ready for the big Culmination Barbecue planned for the final evening:
CELEBRATION!
ACS put on quite the shindig for their 100th anniversary culmination event. It was billed as a barbecue, but it was much more than that.
We arrived at the new athletic field, as instructed, at around 7:30PM. The gate was around the side of the field, which was where the boys played touch football and we all had many a soccer game during PE. Because of generous alumni donations, they have covered the field with artificial turf.
For this evening, a wide red carpet had been spread out down the middle of the field leading to the old tennis courts. Here, a bedouin tent, richly decked out with pillows, blankets, etc, held a typical Lebanese musician and a singer:
We were welcomed with some lovely Arabic tunes as we all strolled into the venue. Waitors brought everyone drinks and we chatted and visited. The tennis court area was covered with multiple white tents, underneath which were rows and rows of tables with fresh sunflower center-pieces. There was a stage at one end and meal prep occuring at the other end.
We were called to take our seats and after an official welcoming address, we headed over to the buffet to pile our plates high with traditional Lebanese dishes from tabbouli and lentils, to shawarma and lamb. Another table held fresh fruit and Lebanese desserts.
ACS put on quite the shindig for their 100th anniversary culmination event. It was billed as a barbecue, but it was much more than that.
We arrived at the new athletic field, as instructed, at around 7:30PM. The gate was around the side of the field, which was where the boys played touch football and we all had many a soccer game during PE. Because of generous alumni donations, they have covered the field with artificial turf.
For this evening, a wide red carpet had been spread out down the middle of the field leading to the old tennis courts. Here, a bedouin tent, richly decked out with pillows, blankets, etc, held a typical Lebanese musician and a singer:
We were welcomed with some lovely Arabic tunes as we all strolled into the venue. Waitors brought everyone drinks and we chatted and visited. The tennis court area was covered with multiple white tents, underneath which were rows and rows of tables with fresh sunflower center-pieces. There was a stage at one end and meal prep occuring at the other end.We were called to take our seats and after an official welcoming address, we headed over to the buffet to pile our plates high with traditional Lebanese dishes from tabbouli and lentils, to shawarma and lamb. Another table held fresh fruit and Lebanese desserts.