Lebanon in Poverty

Every tourist coming to Lebanon is interested to have his pictures taken with symbolic sites, to experience a new culture or a new meal and maybe some belly dancing, then head back home with a digitized memory. In the past few days we have toured Lebanon, we did not visit exotic sights, we went discovering new roads and destinations, some intentionally other out of luck. We passed in villages where we, were considered an attraction. Narrow streets where neighboring houses are a meter apart, those villages bore witness to the misery this country is going through, with bare feet kids, lagging even the simplest luxury in their houses, electricity, phones, water and through it all we got big smiles and hospitality we could not resist, these people are the true Lebanese, they are simple, hard working and have a welcoming smile on their face even through hard times. I listened to many sad stories, businesses are suffering, people are suffering, families coming apart and so on. This experience made me think on whether my role model should be Carlos Ghosn and Bill Gates or George, Mohamad and Ali as these are the true survivors, people with a bleak outlook on their future but loads of positive attitude. So next time you are in this country and would like to sample our hospitality go to Sir Al Dinneyeh, Sannine or to the South, I guarantee you a welcoming smile and some great tea to go with it.