13.Eyescrapers (27 February
2018)
 |
|
Fifties-vintage (abandoned) Perla Hotel, dwarfed by tens-vintage skyscraper (9 Feb. 2018 – Ain Mreisse, Beirut) |
There is no single country that has
a monopoly on unplanned, tasteless, meaningless growth, expansion, and
“sprawl”. Before we left the Philadelphia area there was a fair amount of
public protest about some church-owned property being sold to a developer, who
would turn a wooded area, home to wildlife, creeks and impromptu footpaths into
a housing and shopping area with a huge supermarket. I don’t know if the buyers
were able to push forward with their plan since then. Popular protests
notwithstanding, eventually, I suppose, money will have the last word.
Here in Lebanon, however, money has
the first word. Whether digging up open land or tearing down existing
buildings, residents here feel powerless to stop the onslaught of
“improvements” to their environment. The coastline is expanded by landfill
after landfill, in flagrant violation of international conservation efforts.
Pristine areas in the mountains formerly open to skiers become gated
communities with private security standing guard and unheard-of amenities for
the privileged. Stretch after stretch of shoreline is taken over by hotel and
resort companies, turning public beaches into members-only areas. Open space, at
such a premium in Beirut, goes unprotected and one by one those lots are
excavated for yet another eyesore/skyscraper. An eyescraper. Your balcony or
window view ends up being another building, much like it is for those living in
Manhattan. If you can afford the top floors in the newly-built highrise, you
get to see the sea. Otherwise, all you get is a concrete wall.
 |
| Rocks tossed from the bed of the old train tracks,
making way for yet another new highrise (23 Feb. 2018 – Khalil Bedawi, Beirut) |
 |
|
A newly-opened café in a renovated three-storey
building… with an electronic sign visible from low Earth orbit. (24 Feb. 2018 – Geitawi, Beirut) |
Billboards are another genre of
eyescrapers. The electric kind, that is. Advertising companies seem to be in
competition with each other as to which of them can disturb as many people as
possible. There are billboards located a 7 km (4.5 mile) distance from us whose
brightness shines inside our apartment. Some of these eyescrapers are placed on
narrow streets in the capital, shining their gaudiness throughout the night
into apartments only a few tens of meters away. They pop up virtually
overnight, turning the usual sidewalk to street to sidewalk obstacle course
into a master-level challenge worthy of a TV game show.
 |
|
Armenian Evangelical CHS dance ensemble performing
at the annual Christian Endeavor banquet. (25 Feb. 2018 – Nor Marash) |
Yet, I suppose all of this pales in
comparison to the hand-held eyescrapers, the data-collection devices we naively
call “ours”, which we find ourselves unable to part with for any significant
amount of time. They deliver anything from praise songs to pornography to
anyone from child to elder; they amazingly connect people throughout the world
without regard to time zones or circadian rhythms. But what they drain from us
is something that we need in order to function as human beings created in God’s
image: the ability to be quiet and reflect on one’s mortality; the ability to
care for those dear to us in a meaningful, personal way; the ability to act
with courage and conviction no matter who is watching – or “like”-ing. And that
touches the reality of the whole world today, not just Lebanon.
Sure,
I’m criticizing the donkey I’m riding on, and it may just decide to kick me off
its back. But jumping (or falling) off might turn my eye to attend to things I
can do to make a difference in my world.
 |
|
Armiss Choir at their second rehearsal at Emmanuel
Church. (25 Feb. 2018 – Nor Amanos) |
Last April I put aside my Arabic
lessons because my schedule got “too busy”, or as a friend named it, I lapsed
back into “workaholism”. Now I want to restart my lessons, but the school I
attended doesn’t have a class at my level (fairly basic) at the beginning of
the day. Why go to language class first thing in the morning? Because Maria and
I have started going to a gym three times a week. What a relief, and an answer
to prayer! A local hotel has a pool shallow enough for Maria to exercise in,
and enough treadmills, exercise bicycles, etc., for me to sweat on. Happy
times!
 |
|
LebCat 12: If you tied a stick to it, wouldn't it look like one of those ostrich feather dusters taxi drivers keep in their trunks? (22 Mar. 2017 – Beirut) |
