Lebanon

Guest co-authors: Lucy Shaker and Cathy Shaker-Breit

One mom (Lucy), one aunt (Cathy) and one cousin (Benjamin) joined Anthony and Michelle for a week in Lebanon. What a week it was!!

We were all high-energy tourists who wanted to capture every possible experience in a short time period. We saw impressive historical sites, visited with relatives still living in the same tiny village where Isaac Shaker lived before coming to America and enjoyed the hospitality of the gracious Lebanese.

Some of the week’s highlights: Baalbek’s remarkably well-preserved structures including the often-pictured Roman Temples to the gods Jupiter and Baachus. Please note equal rights were not a priority. Only men were allowed in these temples. The temple to Venus that women were allowed to visit is far off in the distance and only partially excavated. Byblos, which is considered the world’s oldest continually inhabited city, features a market (souk) that has changed little since Roman times. We visited the Jeita Grotto (in competition for one of the modern natural wonders of the world) which is made up of miles of limestone stalactites and stalagmites that have been forming for thousands of years. Cathy reported that although it was eerily beautiful, she was “pretty sure she saw John Lennon’s face in one hanging.”

We all loved our journey to one of the few remaining groves of the famous Lebanese cedars. Sadly, harsh weather and the lumber needs of nearby countries have devastated the forests. Now few of these magnificent symbols of Lebanon remain although the tree depicted on the flag of Lebanon is still standing.

Some Beirut sites that we enjoyed: The National Museum of Lebanon (a must see), the Al Omari Mosque with its spectacular ceiling mosaics and the world’s largest chandelier, the St. Jude Hospital Clinic (doing good works worldwide).

While Beirut seemed like a congested, large city, we greatly enjoyed our journeys outside Beirut through the winding hills of Lebanon. A friend of ours in Oak Park recommended a driver that he used on his trips to Lebanon. Rami was an invaluable resource for us. He shepherded us around providing good companionship and valuable information. Some special lessons we learned from Rami: There are “no rules in Lebanon.” When we asked why people would be walking across the highway dodging traffic and carrying bags of groceries, he would say that “is normal”. He did insist that we stop at a wax museum where he said the 50 most important people in history were depicted. To our surprise 10 of them were sheiks. When we asked Rami, he said (of course) that is normal. Other wax notables: Fıdel Castro, Saddam Husseın, Pope John Paul, Van Gogh, Quasımodo, and a partıcularly haggard lookıng Bıll Clınton. All ın all, one of the more surreal moments of the trıp.

We also learned from Rami and from our experience as passengers on the wild, wild roads that there is a special language spoken by the constant honking horns on the streets of Lebanon. After careful study, we believe we have a pretty definitive list to help future travelers to discern what the particular horn honk might mean…

Hello
Wassup
I’m here
I’m passing you in a non-lane
Meet me later at the club
I’m driving through this broken red light
You, car ahead of me, need to drive through this broken red light
A long horn means…f…you
I’m free and I do whatever I want
You are pretty
I’m a taxi and I am available
I’m at a store and don’t feel like going in, my honk gets the store owner to come to me
I’m going the wrong way towards you
I’m driving on the sidewalk, I hope you don’t mind
I’m aware that you are a pedestrıan with the right of way, but I don’t care and will run you over
I am on a 3 lane highway but am happy to create a few more lanes
Watch out because I am stopping on a highway to let passengers out
I have not honked in a few minutes and need to make sure my horn works

Bottom line..if you visit Lebanon, please avoid the rental car stop. Just call our friend Rami

One very special aspect of our trip was the chance to connect with Shaker Family members living in Toula. The Auoad family welcomed us to their village sharing stories of our shared history. They couldn’t have been more gracious and welcoming. They have kept a scrapbook of photos sent to them from Isaac Shaker (Cathy’s grandfather and the first to come to America) and Joseph Shaker (Cathy’s dad). They also took Cathy and Benjamin to the tiny village of Misthra where both of Cathy’s grandmothers were born.

The Lebanese hospitality is well known by anyone who has a Lebanese acquaintance. Typifying that was when Fr. Alfred (a Lebanese priest and friend with a church in Chicago) invited us to share an evening with his wonderful family. We ate dinner at a restaurant filled with thousands of flowers. There was fabulous Lebanese food and exceptional company…a perfect evening.

It is hard to fit in a few paragraphs all that we experienced, but we did manage to add some culture to our trip: a nightclub singer who knew a little John Denver and ABBA, a visit to Lebanese winery (exceptional local wine called Ksaras), a middle eastern night club act (surprised to see a Russian belly dancer with tattoos), and if anyone gets to the Metropolitan Hotel in Beirut, please tell Roger the Bartender that the Shakers say kifak.

But you can’t talk about a trip to Lebanon without mentioning the extraordinary Lebanese cuisine. Almost daily we sampled kibbee, tabouli, fatoush salad, grape leaves, zata, laban (yogurt), spinach pies and hummus. We are ready to go back for more.

Cathy, Lucy and Benjamin were pleased to be able to share a portion of Anthony and Michelle’s great adventure with them. We can report that Anthony and Michelle are doing very well…thoroughly enjoying the experience. Their energy is invigorating…it was a delight!!! Thanks for the memories!