A Trip to Lebanon

Notes:

• The driver we were assigned to for our week-long trip in and around Beirut was sympathetic to the Hezbollah. At times during the day, usually by mid-afternoon when temperatures had risen and we had moved against enough traffic, there would be points of tension in the car when I would throw dirty glances at my travelling companion to keep the peace. We had hours to past together with the man who knew his way around the tangle of streets and narrow lanes, but who was insistent on retelling a singular view of history, and whom we were happy to get respite from as we wandered the historic sites and ate our meals.

• Sectarian tension is what gives the city its character and locations. This is where we were attacked. This is where it happened. Points of view are drawn on the map and gated by checkpoints. That pause you take while the vehicle stops and glances are exchanged before you move into another territory makes you hyperaware. Conservative or liberal? Western sympathizer? Hezbollah or Sunni? Where in other countries, efforts are made in trying to convince others to join a movement, the approach in Beirut and Lebanon at large is not to win a vote but to live in kind of agreed disagreement. We are told to avoid talking talk about sensitive issues, but everything in Lebanon comes back to religion and politics.

Photograph by Sarah Tan (2016)