Faqra

Fantastic skiing today. Clear skies, 4 degrees on the slopes, powder snow, and not many people. Eddie had a friend with him, Max. “No no, you’ve got to take this run”, they said. “Isn’t that the black slope?” I tried. “No no, not at all,” they replied with confidence, and I thought about those words as I came over the hill and stared into the deep. That must have been a slope of 70 degrees, at least. And as they threw themselves down the mountain, I went like an old lady, zigzag zigzag. Took me hours to get down. “Why don’t you paint your hair blond,” added Max, as we sat down at La Cabane ( a small restaurant at the bottom of the slope). “It is blonde, Max”, I said. “No, it’s white,” he replied.
Thank you, young man, you make me feel so much better.

On the way to Feraya, you pass by a Phoenician Temple in Kfardebian. Some say they are Roman ruins at an elevation of 1,550 meters. The archaeological site is a collection of temples, columns, layers, and rock cut tombs, along with the ruins of a Phoenician temple to the Goddess Aststre and the tower of the Roman Emperor Claudius. It was destroyed by the great earthquake of 551 AD.

Karstified limestone rock formation near Faqra

Eddie had his birthday yesterday, so today we’re going skiing with a couple of his friends. I was on ski camp with a couple of his ski buddies this week, and it’s the first time that I see at what speed these kids are coming down the hill, so my birthday present is going to be a new helmet. They come down at breakneck speed; kamikaze style. One of the teachers, a Canadian guy who’s a pretty good skier, offered to race them, but there were several of them he could not beat. Weather’s been pretty crappy, but today the sun is out, so hopefully we’ll get some good skiing done.

Pierre, Amal, Robert, me and Jeremy