Another day in Beirut (Wednesday we believe!)
This one is going to be hard - I've promised Chris I wont make fun of him due to having upended half a cup coffee over him in Starbucks earlier today (accidentally I hasten to add!).
I awoke not feeling too great this morning - I think I'm beginning to succumb to the cold that has Jon in its grip and is still bugging Chris, plus the little sleep aid I took last night has left me feeling very drowsy (no it WASN'T alcoholic!)
The gig today was a midday chapel at the Haigazian University on the Moslem side of town. It's actually an Armenian Christian-run university but it welcomes people of all faiths. There are about 750 students, half Armenian, 40% Moslem and 10% from an Evangelical Arabic background. The gig was arranged by the University chaplain, Greg Lee-Parker, who Chris and Charles know very well from when he and his wife (Kristina) spent time in Istanbul.
Apparently Chapel isn't usually THAT well attended, but the promise of good music attracted between 70 and 100 people into the 200-seater "Women's auxiliary hall" (not even the MAIN Women's hall!!!) - it's amazing how people can be fooled, eh? We did 9 songs which filled our allotted 50 minutes, and it went pretty well (excepting certain mistakes that are now becoming FEATURES of some songs! But nobody except us noticed those - I hope). We were certainly well received, with quite a few staying to speak with us afterward, and many more leaving contact details via the the band's fan contact sheets! We were also joined by a number of students for lunch in their cafeteria, as well as by Greg and Kristina, where discussion of music, courses, families, and vocations etc filled an enlightening and invigorating hour.
Talking to Greg later, we understand that at least half of those who came had never been to a chapel before, and a good number were of a Moslem background - so he's hopeful now that at least some of these will return next Wednesday (even if no internationally famous band will be playing :-)).
We also got to meet the president of the university (Paul Haidostian) who explained a bit about its roots in Armenian teacher training, and the fact that it is now considered one of the top universities in Lebanon - but you can catch up with that by following the link above.
On leaving Paul's office, we were met by Lindy, Wadih having been called away for something - it is she who transported us the very short distance for the ill-fated visit to Starbucks - and the coffee wasn't even that good. There (apart from having a food fight) we chatted again with Greg and Kristina about ministry and the difficulties of adapting to foreign cultures - even Jon has experienced that, having moved from his native California to Georgia three and a half years ago!
I said the university was on the Moslem side of town (in fact it's very close to where Wadih's parents live) - to get to it we have to cross the infamous "green line" that separated the main Christian and Moslem quarters in the civil war days. Apparently driving this route was very risky in those days, with snipers taking pot shots at travelers from both sides - and very slow, with three checkpoints on the main road. You can see the shrapnel and bullet scars in many buildings, and there remain a good few burnt out shells too. I know I keep going on about it, but really, on these journeys through town, the battle scars are very sobering.
We arrived back at the school (note that that is a link to the school's site now - so you can see where we are staying) just in time to see the closing stages of a basketball game which the LES team won!!!).
One piece of bad news - well two in fact: the two university gigs for Thursday and Friday have been canceled, Thursday's because there will be no-one there (the students there aren't back from vacation yet!) and Friday's because the university refused permission.
Tomorrow then, instead of the midday gig, we are playing tourists in Tyre, about 90 minutes by demolition derby from here. But we have to be back fairly early, because we have a pub gig at 10:00pm. Not sure what Friday holds in store now, but have asked Wadih to try and get us another pub gig.
We are off to some unknown location for more food in about half an hour. Lindy asked at what time we would be starving. I suggested at about 7:00pm - May 1st!!!
Oh, one surprise - we found WORKING traffic lights today! But they are so ignored by the drivers that they need a policeman or soldier on duty to enforce the protocol!!
Short post today, eh (oh no, I'm becoming Canadian!!!!).
I awoke not feeling too great this morning - I think I'm beginning to succumb to the cold that has Jon in its grip and is still bugging Chris, plus the little sleep aid I took last night has left me feeling very drowsy (no it WASN'T alcoholic!)
The gig today was a midday chapel at the Haigazian University on the Moslem side of town. It's actually an Armenian Christian-run university but it welcomes people of all faiths. There are about 750 students, half Armenian, 40% Moslem and 10% from an Evangelical Arabic background. The gig was arranged by the University chaplain, Greg Lee-Parker, who Chris and Charles know very well from when he and his wife (Kristina) spent time in Istanbul.
Apparently Chapel isn't usually THAT well attended, but the promise of good music attracted between 70 and 100 people into the 200-seater "Women's auxiliary hall" (not even the MAIN Women's hall!!!) - it's amazing how people can be fooled, eh? We did 9 songs which filled our allotted 50 minutes, and it went pretty well (excepting certain mistakes that are now becoming FEATURES of some songs! But nobody except us noticed those - I hope). We were certainly well received, with quite a few staying to speak with us afterward, and many more leaving contact details via the the band's fan contact sheets! We were also joined by a number of students for lunch in their cafeteria, as well as by Greg and Kristina, where discussion of music, courses, families, and vocations etc filled an enlightening and invigorating hour.
Talking to Greg later, we understand that at least half of those who came had never been to a chapel before, and a good number were of a Moslem background - so he's hopeful now that at least some of these will return next Wednesday (even if no internationally famous band will be playing :-)).
We also got to meet the president of the university (Paul Haidostian) who explained a bit about its roots in Armenian teacher training, and the fact that it is now considered one of the top universities in Lebanon - but you can catch up with that by following the link above.
On leaving Paul's office, we were met by Lindy, Wadih having been called away for something - it is she who transported us the very short distance for the ill-fated visit to Starbucks - and the coffee wasn't even that good. There (apart from having a food fight) we chatted again with Greg and Kristina about ministry and the difficulties of adapting to foreign cultures - even Jon has experienced that, having moved from his native California to Georgia three and a half years ago!
I said the university was on the Moslem side of town (in fact it's very close to where Wadih's parents live) - to get to it we have to cross the infamous "green line" that separated the main Christian and Moslem quarters in the civil war days. Apparently driving this route was very risky in those days, with snipers taking pot shots at travelers from both sides - and very slow, with three checkpoints on the main road. You can see the shrapnel and bullet scars in many buildings, and there remain a good few burnt out shells too. I know I keep going on about it, but really, on these journeys through town, the battle scars are very sobering.
We arrived back at the school (note that that is a link to the school's site now - so you can see where we are staying) just in time to see the closing stages of a basketball game which the LES team won!!!).
One piece of bad news - well two in fact: the two university gigs for Thursday and Friday have been canceled, Thursday's because there will be no-one there (the students there aren't back from vacation yet!) and Friday's because the university refused permission.
Tomorrow then, instead of the midday gig, we are playing tourists in Tyre, about 90 minutes by demolition derby from here. But we have to be back fairly early, because we have a pub gig at 10:00pm. Not sure what Friday holds in store now, but have asked Wadih to try and get us another pub gig.
We are off to some unknown location for more food in about half an hour. Lindy asked at what time we would be starving. I suggested at about 7:00pm - May 1st!!!
Oh, one surprise - we found WORKING traffic lights today! But they are so ignored by the drivers that they need a policeman or soldier on duty to enforce the protocol!!
Short post today, eh (oh no, I'm becoming Canadian!!!!).
posted by Martin Bartlett at 4:46 PM
1 Comments:
Oh Martin with that funny accent and eccentric behaviour there is not chance that you are becoming Canadian. Nice try though. We're not an exclusive culture but we do have our limits.
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