life is good

i just finished my interview and it was amazing. lot’s of honesty on
both sides - me about what experience i genuinely had, and her about
the limited resources (ie computers) they have available for interns,
etc etc, and we worked it out and they loved my photos and my resume
looked good and i start monday!!
it’s less intimidating when you’re completely honest.

i start at 1pm. not because it’s a half-day or anything. not because i
like sleeping in (i’ve been getting up at 6am each day and just reading
til the day starts) - but that’s just when things start
here. people don’t go to work until 12 or 1, they work late, eat
whenever, stay up late, etc. -the place i’m at seems like quite a lax
environment. which is good.

and this paper is intense. i read articles before i
came, but then i read today’s and some from earlier this week, and it’s
just..a very different perspective. information you would never hear in
US media. ever. some of it’s really tragic. and daily. daily tragedy.
good environment?

so the city of beirut is beautiful. and soo different from haiti (duh).
it’s nice to be in a place with infrastructure, a good economy, things
like student loans, health insurance, etc. it’s especially nice to fit
in. and fit in i do. you know how i’m ethnically ambiguous? spanish ppl
think i’m spanish, mrs chuang even thinks i look asian..etc. - well i
am lebanese. more lebanese than some lebanese girls. my nose and eyes
could be a bit bigger, and maybe a fuller body - but really,
everyone thinks i’m lebanese. and i like it.

anyway, i’ll wrap this up and write more later.

i could live well for 2 dollars a day here. easy. but i’m sure we’re
going to nicer places - not that 2 dollars doesn’t mean a fantastic
meal at a great place. the food here is amazing. but there are certain
places ‘buddha bar’ and an arabic dance club - that are on the agenda,
as well as some touring i’m sure, and that’ll up it a bit.

and the people i’ve met here are great - i just had an hour to kill
before the interview, so i went and bought some carrot juice. i was
looking at the menu b/c it was a fresh fruit place and seemed amazing,
but there were a bunch of things i didn’t understand. achta, labam,
etc. so everytime i asked what something was they made it for me in a
little sample and i tried it. i stopped asking after 3 or 4 things b/c
i didn’t wanna puch my luck. or ruin my appetite for my carrot juice,
but i feel like i’ll be back there everyday. i love this city.

as for turkey - my ticket is for the 16th, so i have 2 days and 2
nights there before i go to london and then ny. it’s only 11 dollars
per night, and as long as i eat at the hostel it’s either insanely
cheap or free. the only real thing that costs me money in istanbul is
transport to/from airport, and if i went out one night or something.
but i have no plans to do that. the mosque i want to see is free, the
beach and the grand bazaar don’t charge for admittance, and the owner
said he would give a half-day tour w/out charge.

he’s also offered to hire me if i would like to work there next summer.
he says that i seem like a genuine person, especially for an american,
and that i can give back to people in life. he thinks i have amazing
‘energie’. i know all this makes him sounds insane and kind of creepy,
but he’s really not. i promise. intuition says anyways.

alrighty. peace out cub scout.