On Beach Weather and Politics

Lebanese politics is getting better every minute. Tonight there is a fight between several politicians. The president is among them, and Fatfat, minister of Interior Affairs is another. 'Fatfat' in Arabic means 'to crumble', so the president says on the news that he is going to 'fatfat' (crumble) his adversaries. The scenes on the news this evening remind me of Italian movies where, during dinner time, the entire family breaks out in incredible arguments and fights. This sure beats living in Holland, where scenes like this are unthinkable. Dutch politicians do not even raise their voice. Very polite and civilized, I admit, but very boring too. Watching the news in Lebanon is very entertaining.

Summertime started (last Sunday), and it's almost beach weather again. It's T-shirt weather already, but we're waiting for beach weather, so we can hang around on the sandy beaches down south (Jiyeh, about 35 kilometers south of Beirut), or the sandy beaches up north, around Byblos (Jbeil). They're not that far either, but you've got to wrestle your way through 'one helluva'traffic jam in the afternoon on your way back to Beirut, so we usually do not go up North.
Last Sunday the kids couldn't wait anymore, so we packed a few of them into the old Jeep, 6 in all, and drove to Byblos. It's too early for most people, so the beaches aren't cleaned yet (lots of junks washes ashore since most major garbage dumps in Lebanon happen to be situated on the seaside as well.), but we managed to find a spot and had a picnic.