I arrived in Beirut at 3:45 a.m. and on the plane I was hit with anxiety. I thought to myself, “Four months in a country I know nothing about where I know no one. Lina, what were you thinking?” My fears were some what allayed when I got to speak Arabic to the visa official. They understood my accent and I understood theirs. Praise be! (This would not be the case if it was, say, Moroccan Arabic).

The declaration of customs was not so cool. They opened my bags and asked what I would be doing in Lebanon, and in English I told them I am a visiting student. When I told them I would be studying Arabic, they smiled and became friendly. Note to self and others: do not bring powdery looking things to Lebanon. Like many countries, it is having a problem with drugs. I learned this the hard way. I had packed some myseeq, a well-known perfume that is used in the Gulf. I had mistakenly thought that all Arabs use it, but I soon found out that I was wrong. The customs official thought I had brought along “some fun,” i.e. cocaine. I told him to taste it, and smell it, and the customs official called his colleague to taste the substance. Once they tasted it, they promptly gave it back to me. They then welcomed me to Lebanon.

In the taxi, I tried to get as many glimpses of the city as possible. What I gleaned is that Beirut is a series of hills and has a long coast-line. It is quite beautiful: a mixture that is both modern and traditional.

Tired from travel, I did not unpack. Instead, I sat on the balcony overlooking a main road. An hour or so before dawn I heard the Adhan, the call to Fajr prayer. At 5:30a.m., the roosters started calling the dawn and it made me realize that although Beirut is cosmopolitan, modern and “western,” it is very much an Arab city with all its connotations, markets and yes, livestock.

Sitting on the balcony I did not know that later that week I would go down to the company that won the contract to build downtown Beirut, Solidere, owned by—the Prime Minister Hariri. The multi-billion dollar project is the pride of many Lebanese, because to them it represents reconstruction of the vibrant downtown that was so famous in the region, earning Beirut the title “Paris” of the Middle East during the 60s and 70s.

Back on the balcony. I realized by 8 a.m. that I’d spent the whole night or rather early morning up and I had better adjust quickly. After all, I had and have a long week ahead, with registration, orientations, names, cultures, peoples, opening a bank account, getting a cell phone, registering at the U.S. embassy, and making sure I have a valid multiple entry visa, and adjusting to a new country. The international students’ orientation was not as organized as I would have liked, and people are not as open and friendly as I had earlier imagined. All this said, I am looking forward to the start of classes where I will be taking classes such as Arabic and Middle East History. I have to add, though, my hat is off to the international students in Oberlin!