Blog

  • Day 6 (June 28) – US Embassy, ATCL, Bill Corcoran and ANERA, and Music Hall

    Thursday was truly a special day. Our schedule got mixed up a bit, so we all got to sleep in (yay!) before heading to the La Artisanat, an area of Beirut with lots of locally made products. I picked up presents for my husband and his sister and mom there. Afterward, we drove out to Read more

  • Day 5 (June 27) – Al Majmoua, AUB, Youth Shadow Government

    Day 5 was another one of our more substantive days. In the morning, we met Youssef Fawaz, the Executive Director of Al Majmoua, an NGO based out of Lebanon that helps individuals with their microfinancing needs. I was not really all that aware of microfinancing prior to this meeting, the idea of giving people small Read more

  • Day 4 (June 26) – Dinner

    Dinner Tuesday was amazing. We ate traditional Lebanese food outside under the sky in Beirut at Al Falamanki. It was a really great space, with tables situated under trees and vines. Everyone who had wanted to smoke shisha was able to–double apple all around. The food was so very good–starting again with mezze, and followed Read more

  • Day 4 (June 26) – Meetings with Former MPs, Political Parties, and Businessmen

    Day 4 was another long day of meetings and food. In the morning we met with the Beirut Trader’s Association. There, we discussed a lot of economic issues, including problems for women (only 30% of the workforce) and youth (25% of which are under the poverty line). We learned a lot about the banking system Read more

  • Day 3 (June 25) – Meetings with Social Activists and Economic and Business Leaders

    The last two days have been packed with meetings and short trips out into different districts of Beirut. I haven’t taken many photos, as we have primarily been doing Q&As with local leaders, but I’m sure some will surface from the group in the next couple days. On Monday, we began our week meeting with Read more

  • Day 2 (June 24) – Beirut and Locations North and East

    So I’m a little behind, mostly due to needing sleep. Jet lag hit me finally sometime yesterday, and I was just wiped. Our second day was mostly sight-seeing, with a trip north out of the city, paralleling the Mediterranean for quite a while before turning east over the mountains. Our trip through the mountains was Read more