Smells Like . . . .

Some non-political stuff today. We get some fabulous sunsets here in Beirut. They often say that dust and man-made pollution are responsible for colorful sunrises and sunsets. But according to this guy “The truth is that tropospheric aerosols --- especially when present in abundance --- do not enhance sky colors --- they subdue them. Clean air is, in fact, the main ingredient common to brightly colored sunrises and sunsets.” (From an article in Weatherwise magazine, June/July 1996)

So with our beautiful sunsets, the conclusion is that the Beirut air is clean. You could have fooled me though today. I had to pick up a drum set in Ashrafiye, and there was this very powerful stench of shit hanging in the East side of Beirut. Pungent, is the word. Potent, even better.

First I thought it came from the kids in the back of the car. I was transporting 3 toddlers, who knows what they were doing. But the kids smelled all fresh and rosy. Then we checked our shoes. Maybe someone had stepped in dog shit? It didn’t smell like dog shit though, more like sewage.

You see the yellow rim on the horizon?

Then we checked the car next to us. It was a small truck, and maybe he was carrying dead stuff around. But it was everywhere. Apparently the wind was blowing inland, and the smell of the large garbage dump in Bourj Hammoud and the Karantina slaughterhouse was blown with it. I pity the people living in that neighborhood. It wasn’t just a bad small, it was really awful.
We rolled up our windows, but then it got too hot. We turned on the AC, and then it got sucked into the car, so that didn’t help either. Once we got out of Ashrafiye, the smell was gone.

And now we have a drum set in the house. We can get this family on the road pretty soon. Like the Partridge Family.