The Neighborhood Dikkaneh VIII

It doesn’t really matter in what part of town you are; neighborhood dikkanehs do not really vary that much. They mainly service the people that are within walking distance of their store. And ‘walking distance’ in Lebanon needs some further explanation. Lebanese do not like to walk. This may be due to the fact that most sidewalks have been transformed into veritable obstacle courses because of parked cars, unleveled pavement (sometimes no pavement at all) and the absolute random placement of electricity polls/parking meters/road signs/newspaper kiosks/scooters and other items.

Sietske is not in Beirut at the moment, but on her annual ‘Trek to the Motherland’. She leaves you every Friday with a typical Lebanese neighborhood ‘dikkaneh’, also called mini-market. They are all situated in Beirut. The exact road & neighborhood are indicated on the picture itself. These little stores have all disappeared in Holland; fallen victim to the big supermarket chains. But here in Beirut, we still have them. This is number 8 in a series of 12. Enjoy, while I enjoy my holiday.