Seven Estonian tourists have been kidnapped while cycling in the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon. (source and source)
Or if you want it in Dutch:
Fietsende Europeanen ontvoerd in Libanon (source)
Now what do you think of this? Personally, I think it’s rather funny, but I have been often reprimanded for my strong sense of sarcasm (especially in the workplace). It’s a cultural thing. The Dutch are sarcastic. The British too. Americans are the opposite. The Lebanese? I don’t think sarcasm flows well within this society. Everyone’s rather sensitive.
But back to the topic. Now who would want a bunch of Estonian bikers? What were they thinking? Israeli invasion? Spies under cover? That they could make money out of them? I don’t think Estonia is a particularly wealthy nation. Maybe one of them ogled a roadside girl too openly? But really, if you’ve seen the girls in Estonia, why would you ogle girls in the Beqaa Vally.
They were kidnapped in Zahle. I thought Zahle was a Christian town? These guys are into the business as well these days?
I went biking in the Beqaa once. Last October, I believe. With another two 'Europeans', as the Dutch headline reads. Nobody wanted to kidnap us. You read that, Marijke? Ouch, that hurts. We're not THAT old.
I went biking in the Beqaa once. Last October, I believe. With another two 'Europeans', as the Dutch headline reads. Nobody wanted to kidnap us. You read that, Marijke? Ouch, that hurts. We're not THAT old.
Personally, I think that by the end of the day, this will turn out to be all a great misunderstanding. They went to the local Dunkin’ Donuts, someone found their bikes near a lamppost and raised the alarm. Or they’ve been tasting wine at one of the local wineries and things got out of hands. Being nationals from a former East Block country, they’re known for their strong taste for the hops and other related products.
We’ll see.
6 comments:
some kind of distraction to stear away from events around?
According to my experience you have to be cold-blooded (read: Northern-European) to understand and enjoy sarcasm...
The European Estonians were underbiking Lebanon´s security! Or following the Garmin GPS and ending up in a dead end road at a farm with partially dead goats. Been there, done that - but by a 4WD luckily, so I got away!
Maybe we should go again this Sunday and give it another try? Wearing big sunglasses, so they dont see our wrinkles!!!
I love the difference between the BBC and AlJazeera articles:
The BBC completely ignore the fact that Zahle has little to do with Hezbollah, and just goes on and on about drugs, lawlessness and Hezbollah.
The AlJazeera article discloses more information about the incident, and makes it look incredibly unrelated to all that the BBC mentionned..
Go figure..
PS: You can find a lot of sarcasm and dark humor in Lebanon, I guess you just have to know where to look..
When I think of Bekaa, I think of drugs (I should know, my mother is from Baalback). This could well be a drug deal gone wrong.
But, it is also happening at a time when there has been a strange spike in crime across Lebanon. Conspiracy theorists might think this is related to Aoun's attempt to grab the Interior Ministry. Now there's a Christian link for you.
This is just bizarre.
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