Running to and away

I am thoroughly exhausted. I’m used to taking a good hour nap when I get home, but today I was too restless to do so. I have so much on my mind.

Today was not as easy as yesterday. As usual, my grade 6 boys were attentive and perfect, but the 7/8 boys were the ones causing the problems today. I think they were a little more excited about camping out on Thursday and Friday than the exam on Wednesday. Anyhow, I reviewed for exams in all of my classes and spent my one hour off sitting in on a grade 6 Arabic class. I’m near-perfect in my speaking of Arabic but definitely not up to the grade 6 level in reading and writing.

Everyone is really, really excited about going camping on Thursday and Friday. Everyone is psyched that I’m going with them.

Alright, update. My 2 year-old cousin just threw a block to my head. Hold up, world. I’m getting some ice.

Hussein and I talked on the bus today again about America. Since he holds an American passport, going back is not a problem. He and a lot of young Lebanese just don’t see much of future here anymore. Well, I’m not sure if they ever did. One of the kids at the bus stop I stand at in the morning came with his dad the other day. I had a brief chat with him and he simply said, “I hate everything that is Lebanon and have to do with Lebanon”. I understand where they’re coming from but I’ve encountered more negative feelings about the country this vacation than during any other year.

Mariam and I went out today to buy a few more scarves for me to wear to school. We visited my aunt on the way there. She owns a small shop in one of the busiest areas of Beirut. Every time I walk into that store there are always a ton of people. Business is good for at least someone in this country.

I went for a one-hour run around 7 this evening and purposely got myself lost. Probably not the smartest idea when you’re running in a developing country, but I’m sure that’s not a surprise if you know me well. The funny thing is that I actually ended up in the district that my aunt used to live in before she moved to Saudi Arabia last year. We used to talk during the war and she would be frightened from all the sights and sounds that were surrounding her. Two buildings away from her was another residential building that used to house a salon called Salon Rafic Youness. The salon’s owner, Rafic Youness died in a bombing during the July 2006 war and the building was hit by a missile. I stopped running to just reminisce in front of that building and look at how far the construction was coming along. I ran a little further east and found that there were a lot of buildings that were still in construction. I had no idea how hard the area had been hit.

Halfway through my run I ran into my cousin. He was stuck in traffic and honked at me repeatedly. I thought it was just another crazy boy trying to get my attention, but it was my own cousin, smack dab in the middle of traffic in the city. We had a good 2 minute chat with he and his wife in traffic. What a small world, really!

Mariam and I stopped by a few cell phone stores to see if it was possible for me to get a cell phone line. There’s nothing cheaper than $50 for about 3 weeks’ worth of minutes. It might be worth it, but there’s a cell phone sitting idly at my uncle’s house. It’s for my grandma, but she never uses it, haha. That might be a good substitute for now.