I love Beirut because...

Two women dressed up in men’s suits, c. 1920 (Marie al-Khazen)

#rawshe #Beirut #Lebanon (Taken with instagram)

#man #Jesus #statue #Lebanon (Taken with Instagram at ????? ?????)

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Don’t kill your language

Tyre, Lebanon

Location: Qadisha Valley, Lebanon

#beirutstreetart remixed w/ #lemecam #iphone4 #iphoneography #lebanon (Taken with Instagram at Sodeco Square)

Female Lebanese emcee Malikah.

#Israel invasion of #Lebanon in 1982. ???????? ?????????? ?????? ??? ????

I love Beirut because I see a girl in a mini skirt and her sister in a  Tchador.

I love Beirut because it is neither West nor East: it is both.

I love Beirut because you can party till 6 in the morning and not realize that it is Tuesday.

I love Beirut because in Beirut you can live as if you are going to die tomorrow and party as if you are going to live forever.

I love Beirut because I have never seen the sun this strong anywhere in the world.

I love Beirut because I can see 6,000 years of history.

I love Beirut because every Beiruti has a political opinion and will share it with you

I love Beirut for all the conspiracy theories and how many people actually  believe them.

I love Beirut because any night I can find a friend to go out with.

I love Beirut because I do not need to call my friends to go and see at home, I just stop by.

I love Beirut because as soon as I arrive at one of my friends’ houses their moms take me to the kitchen & introduce me to everything in the fridge.

I love Beirut because one can smell gardenia and jasmine.

I love Beirut because strawberries taste like strawberries & fruits taste like fruits.

I love Beirut because the food is so good that you end up gaining even as you’re trying to lose .

I love Beirut because Lebanese women are the most elegant women I have ever seen.

I love Beirut because everyone knows my name. (a la cheers)

I love Beirut because I don’t have to explain myself.

I love Beirut because of the traffic jams and the people you meet because of them.

I love Beirut because of the noise pollution from cars honking.

I love Beirut for the spirituality of the people whether Muslim or  Christian.

I love Beirut because I’m the first to call my Muslim friends on Ramadan and they are the first to call me on Easter.

I love Beirut because on May 1st I see Muslims visiting Harissa (statue of  the Virgin Mary ) just like I see Christians.

I love Beirut because on the 22nd of every month I see Muslims going to St. Charbel and believing that a miracle will happen.

I love Beirut because women look like they’ve just stepped off the pages of  Vogue.

I love Beirut because you eat to live and live to eat.

I love Beirut because you leave one cafe to go to another and can do this all day.

I love Beirut because all the Lebanese living outside want to come back and the Lebanese who are in Lebanon envy the ones who are living abroad.

I love Beirut because a girl or a guy can easily tell you I just had a couple of Lexo or Xanax as if they just had some gum.

I love Beirut because for every Lebanese we have a singer.

I love Beirut because the Lebanese star singers sing in nightclubs.

I love Beirut because women go into the swimming pool with full make up on.

I love Beirut because guys go in with their cigars.

I love Beirut because it has been destroyed 7 times in History and has risen.

I love Beirut because since 1975 the Beirutis have withstood the PLO, Syrians and the Israelis.

I love Beirut because the Beirutis will not accept anyone to occupy them and rule over them.

I love Beirut because we feel that it is better to die on our feet than to  live on our knees.

I love Beirut because each street is a two way street even if it’s officially one-way.

I love Beirut because one can park anywhere and not get a ticket.

I love Beirut because one can go as fast as his speedometer allows.

I love Beirut because MEA lands there.

I love Beirut because on MEA we can clap in unison when we are about to  land.

I love Beirut not because it is my city, but because it is everyone’s city.

I love Beirut because it welcomes every exiled freethinker,independent mind of the Arab world.

I love Beirut because we have hundreds of newspapers and our press is free.

I love Beirut because when I explain Beirut to my Western friends, my friends see the passion of Beirut in my eyes.

I love Beirut because when I tell my friends that I’m going to Beirut they tell me can you take me with you.

I love Beirut because we argue over who is going to pay the bill at a  restaurant since everyone wants to pay it.

I love Beirut because although everyone complains about ‘not making enough money’ everyone is living.

I love Beirut because we accept our differences as we disagree with each other.

I love Beirut because it serves as a beacon of freedom to the rest of the Arab world.

I love Beirut because to paraphrase what Gibran said about Lebanon ’ Had Beirut not been my city I would have chosen it to be.’

I love Beirut because there is no city like it.

I love Beirut because even if Beirut is being destroyed, it is still beautiful and will remain beautiful no matter how disfigured it is.

I love Beirut because although we’ve been knocked down numerous times, we never loose hope…

I love Beirut for no reason.

I love Beirut for all the reasons of the world.