This December, we went to Beirut. Where do I begin?
Well, first off, we arrived in the most torrential storms Lebanon has endured in recent years. It toppled billboards clear off the freeway and tore railings off the cornishe! The important thing was that we got there safely and reunions went ahead as planned.
During this trip, we had quite an exciting family reunion that brought us together with my parents, Jia Ching’s parents (for their first time ever in the Middle East!), my adorable grandmother, as well as an almost countless number of aunts, uncles, and cousins who had all come in from around the region.
Dad taking in his first view of Beirut’s cornishe.
Enjoying a special Lebanese cooking lesson with the Moms!
Reunited with our beautiful Teita Mona!
To make all this even more exciting, this visit to Lebanon also included a reunion with my globetrotting Tintinologist brother Nadim who I had not seen in several months (and his very special lady, Emily)! The downside of all this family fun was the news that our brother Omar would be stuck on route from San Diego in the catastrophic London blizzard that shut down Heathrow for that entire week. He was truly missed!
Meeting up with Nadim & Emily on Bliss Street - how exciting!
Then on top of all of that we had the delight of hosting many of our closest friends from Berkeley for their first time in the Middle East. This was particularly exciting as it gave us the chance to introduce them to one of our favorite cities in the world and all the insanely incredible food, architecture, street life, nightlife, nature, history…I could go on…that Lebanon has to offer. It was a dream come true!
Berkeley boys in Beirut
Berkeley ladies in Lebanon
Finally, there was a very special union…our wedding! And an epic party that friends from around the region traveled to Beirut be able to attend and celebrate with us. All in all it was outrageously fun…and kicked off what would be an amazing three week adventure throughout the Middle East.
A more detailed post or two about the food and other fun details of our Beirut adventure will surely follow…
