16.Something
Familiar (10 June 2018)
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| What? Hoagies? This isn’t Philadelphia. But not to worry. It went out of business. (9 May 2018 – Beirut) |
I was as surprised as anyone. And
all I can conclude is that people are overly polite, or they have no answers
for ant infestations, or they no longer read my blog. After telling the world
how bad things were in our apartment, I found that I had to approach others to
solicit advice; they were not going to come to me. Even if they were also
waging the same war. That’s part of my American cultural outlook, to share advice
and suggestions without waiting for people to ask. Sometimes (a lot of times)
it gets me in trouble. The outcome is that now we have a couple of possible
solutions that we are working on. Stay tuned.
When
you leave a place where you’ve lived for a substantial amount of time, as we
did last year, from time to time something kicks in that I wouldn’t call
nostalgia. More like a global positioning function in your mind that either
makes you notice things that look familiar, or makes you long for the familiar
in your daily life. I fully realize that this happens no matter where you are
at or where you have been. You try to locate yourself in the world you inhabit.
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| Kebab night at the Bakalians. Wrapping up a year of
discipleship meetings the right way. (8 June 2018 – Geitawi, Beirut) |
Objects
are the first things to catch your attention when they remind you of something
back home. Of course, “back home” is a rickety term, especially when you have
made a series of major relocations, as we have. We are more than bi-cultural,
and our children are moreso. To describe this, people have come up with a term
called “third culture”, which doesn’t mean three cultures, but rather “neither
this nor that”, neither belonging fully here nor there, but to a combination of
locales and ways of thinking and being. That pretty much describes us, and can
help us to identify with people like Abraham and Sara in the Old Testament, who
picked up and relocated (and kept relocating) out of obedience to the divine
command. Or like Moses, who fled his native Egypt as an outlaw, and named his
son “Alien”. The Arabic name “Gharib” has this meaning, and once I actually met
a fellow in Armenia with this name.
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| German pride, on the streets of Beirut. Why not? (6 June 2018 – Mar Mikhael) |
Similarly,
smells, tastes and sounds can also drag your mind back and forth, which is a
particular challenge for us, because some of the smells (of food, for example)
here are the same ones that filled our home when we lived in the U.S. But the
thing that tugs the hardest at our hearts is the search for familiar people.
Their faces, their voices, their presence. Sure, we can look at old pictures
and remember, or do a video call and pretend we’re near, but the gift of being
in the same room with someone dear to you… well, that’s priceless.
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| There’s even a Lebanese flag flying from a balcony.
I guess they didn’t hear that Lebanon didn’t qualify this time. (2 June 2018 – Bourj Hammoud) |
Visitors from the U.S. showed up in
recent weeks, with the AMAA meetings and centennial celebrations here, and they
certainly enjoyed seeing us as much as we did seeing them. While I was walking
to Bourj Hammoud to take care of some errands, and I cut between the cars
stopped for a red light. I got slightly annoyed at one of those drivers,
however, honking his horn in stopped traffic. Seriously, where was anyone going
to move? As I continued walking, minding my own business, I heard, “Badveli!
Badveli Nishan!” It was the honking driver. One of our visitors from the U.S.,
who was trying to get my attention. My annoyance quickly vaporized, and I did
what any self-respecting local would: I held up traffic as we exchanged
greetings, right there in the middle of the street.
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| A huge-screen TV stadium/pub, complete with
bleacher seating, under construction near our place, just in time for the start of the World Cup (10 June 2018 – Mar Mikhael, Beirut) |
The
other day when I opened up Facebook (bless its cold, lifeless soul), there was
a picture of a family gathering in the 1990s – one of the memories Facebook
thought I should be re-sharing. I didn’t. But I paused a moment to count the
number of familiar faces that were no longer alive, and could only be accessed
by looking at a photo or closing ones eyes and remembering. And a third of that
group are no longer alive.
Fortunately, and despite the longing
for those who are separated from us by an ocean, there are a lot of others
nearby whose familiar faces cheer us up immeasurably. Despite all the busy-ness
of our lives here, those moments are what builds a new sense of “home” where we
are. We’ll still rejoice when we go to meet loved ones arriving at the Beirut
airport, like Vicken in 7 days, or Sevag in 40. But for our dear friends here
(and one set of Maria’s cousins left in Lebanon) we are rapidly becoming part
of their familiar surroundings. And that feels good.
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| The final rehearsal of the “Armiss” choir, with
soloist and flautist, before it’s “return” the next day. (2 June 2018 – First Arm. Evang. Church, Beirut) |
A
week ago it was a great experience to conduct the “Armiss” choir during the
AMAA Centennial Worship Service. After an on-again/off-again decade, and a
hiatus of three years, the group is back. They sang four choral pieces, and
sounded cohesive, as a choir should. So many people were appreciative, and some
were astonished that there are these talents in our community. Maybe they
thought all the talented people had left the country? My favorite comment was,
“Keep working. You have to give annual concert.”
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| LebCat 15: A protected species – cats on the
American University of Beirut’s campus (21 Mar. 2017 – Ras Beirut) |
Speaking of familiarity, it’s that time again. The time when
you’re not sure what country you’re in, because every sort of flag is flying from all sorts of places.
Yes, football’s Mondial (World Cup) is back. It’s the easiest way for Lebanese
to be another nationality without the drawn-out application process. This is
pretty important stuff – the church and youth retreats later this month have included the game
broadcasts in their schedules, so as not to have a meeting during some of the important
matches! [LNB]
