Cabin Fever; Friends? part 2

I spent the day Friday at home again, sleeping in, sitting in the kitchen with my aunt while she cooked but refused to let me help. I found myself feeling anxious-- not wanting to be a tourist anymore, ready to leave the comfort of living with family to live on my own, but still nervous about going to Damascus in a few days and knowing nobody. It was raining all day and I didn't want to do anything, nor did I know anything to do.

Josyan had given me the number of her friend's niece, Diana, so I had called her the day before and emailed her to see if we could meet up Friday afternoon. She responded that the rain kept her indoors and she was busy working on her thesis, but she did feel a bit of cabin fever and wanted to go out that night. So we made plans to meet up later in the evening. I was glad that I would not leave Beirut without experiencing any of its famous nightlife and I felt a little reassured from our brief conversations that we might have more in common than the last group of friends I was set up with. After dinner with Chantal and Nagibe, I waited for a taxi to come and bring me to her dorm in AUB campus, where she lived. We met and walked to her friend's apartment nearby. There were four of us, including her friend Kevin (American, in the same ME studies program) and his friend George (a French-Lebanese who is working as a journalist). In the car, I asked them about their master's program, both laughed and said it was a little disappointing in the end. There are only 21 credits (7 courses), 2-3 of which are Arabic language, 1 is an easy seminar, and 3 are actually relevant to the program. They both were excited and supportive of my decision to study in Damascus and Diana said in retrospect she probably would have preferred Damascus over Beirut for school, though she loves living in the city and has been here for 2 1/2 years.

We ended up at a club called Basement, which turned out to be a little stuffy. The people seemed a bit too serious and there were few places to hang out and talk. You couldn't sit anywhere as the only options were the seats at the bar for $25 and the tables with bottles of champagne-- we didn't ask-- and there was little standing room. They talked a little bit about other clubs they've been to/heard about in Beirut, including one that is underground that doesn't get busy til after 2 am but opens its roof so partiers can watch the sunrise and another with $1000 tables, reservations necessary-- Kevin only slipped in without paying as part of a larger group. Around 1230 we opted to head out, stopping at a local snack shop called Barbar (if I remember correctly, the family of the kids I met the week before owns it) to get a little food-- Diana said they have the best falafel but I couldn't stomach the huge sandwich, I opted for a (huge but delicious) spinach pie under $1. Then we continued on to Acid, listed in LP as one of the gay-friendly bars in a country where homosexuality is illegal. Entry for women is free before midnight, and though we missed the cutoff they also feature an open bar. This business model makes no sense to me, but at least the crowd was a lot more fun and colorful (perfect for people-watching) and of course representative of a subculture in Beirut that you don't see out and about during the day. They had laser shows, showered foam from the ceilings, pounding music, etc etc that began to get to me sometime around 230 am as we debated leaving for another club or staying a little longer. We stayed, and by 330 we were leaving, this time for home. They drove me back to Jel El-Dib, which was great for me not to have to take a taxi, and I was home before 4. I don't think I saw the full range of what Beirut has to offer in one night, but I am glad I got the chance to go out before leaving. Diana called me the following night for a more "organized" night out, but we had plans with the family to go out for dinner and a movie, on Beirut time (aka movie at 8, dinner at 1030, home at 1230). See following post for more details.