Blue on Black

Sitting in my room, can't sleep, feeling nervous (and excited, restless, confused, etc.), and above all feeling stupid for having to look up the spelling of so many simple words so I don't look like a moron. For those of you who don't know me, I am getting ready to embark on quite a trip to a faraway land known as Lebanon.

For the geographically challenged:

(Its the small poop colored country in the center)

I will be spending 42 weeks studying abroad at the American University of Beirut (AUB) in the heart of one of the most amazing cities in the world. I decided to start this blog not only as a journal of sorts, but as a way to share whats going on half way across the globe with my friends and family. And also to help people in general learn more about the Middle-East without having to risk their lives (jkjk). But seriously, way to many people think Lebanon is some war torn piece of crap country in the middle of the desert with nothing but bombs, savages and camels. When in actuality it's a beautiful country with a rich culture that is up to date in every aspect of life (by western standards). Yet they still manage to uphold customs that date back centuries, while maintaining a very free society. I'm not saying Lebanon doesn't have it's share of problems, because it does (what country doesn't?) I'm just trying to open up peoples eyes so that maybe they can catch a glimpse of what life is like in other cultures. There's more to life than watching Kanye West make an ass of himself (although it was pretty funny), or how much shit you can possibly own.

Mohamed is the most common name in the world, read a fucking book.

Aaaanyways, my flight departs tomorrow from JFK (shit) at 6:30pm to Cairo, then Cairo to Beirut. Despite the aforementioned feelings I am pssyyyyyched to get there and put my best foot forward.

To all my friends, I miss you guys already. We've had some great times just jamming, partying, chilling, shootin' the shit, messing around, etc. (hopefully we'll get to the bottom of who in world flipped the table, but that's a whole other ball game *cough* hawkins *cough*) I hope you guys have a great year at Rutgers (and lehigh(and others)) (Oh snap double parenthesis!) I'm already itchin' to get back home.

To all my family, thank you all for your support and you are the best family anyone could ask for. Rima, please take care of my car and I hope you have better luck with it than I did. Rania, good luck with freshman year, study hard!

I leave you all with a sweet photo compilation of Lebanon (I wrote the song in the background btw)




So long, farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Goooooodbyee

(I think I like to use parenthesis(es?) a little too much)

Peace to the Middle East