Darling Tripoli,

I haven’t written a poem in over 3 years. But the clashes that have been taking place in my hometown over the past few days have been enough to bring this letter out of me:

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Darling Tripoli,

I’m sorry; I can’t save you, when you need me most.

You've been mine all my life, and I’ve shared your shores and waters,

Your walks and winters, and I’d share them all again…

But in the night they took you,

To piteous places where I’ve never taken you before

They blindfolded you and spoon-fed you lies you wouldn’t believe.

Break free, my love…

Look, these are the streets we shot photos of,

Light up with your smile

I’d rest my head on your shoulder and you’d watch me grow,

And teach me lessons on life and love and loss,

But I’m not prepared to lose you,

Not now, not to those thieves!

It’s Tri-poly, city for three:

Mine, Yours, and Ours

But not theirs… never theirs…

I will be your protector, your lover,

I will save you, with words,

With prayers and promises

Tripoli,

In all your times, in all your faces,

I will win your heart again,

And you will come back to me, come back home…

-Nour S. Kabbara (May 17, 2012)

Side Of A Bullet

It’s been since Saturday night that my morale has been down. Sunday it got worse, especially as I flipped through the television news channels and online feeds. Add to that the clear sounds of gunshots in the distance that had woken me up since dawn…

I was sitting with my Dad in the living room when we both heard the sound of something breaking in the kitchen. I thought Mum had dropped one of the dishes or something and so we both got up to check if everything was alright. “That was a gunshot!” she exclaimed, pointing at the balcony. We looked outside and to our surprise, we saw this:

What’s surprising is that our house isn’t close to where the clashes are taking place. Sure we can hear them when they erupt, but it’s a good ten minute drive from here to there! It wasn’t until this morning that I woke up to re-inspect the damage that I found this stray bullet on the floor:

It’s got a really sharp edge, and had it actually been directed at our window, or at a person, it would have splattered either! THANK GOD no one got hurt, and my thoughts and prayers go out to our beloved city, TRIPOLI… MAY GOD PROTECT YOU… 

#SaveTripoli

Here’s a snapshot of life in Tripoli as of yesterday evening: closed roads, burning tires, gunshots and explosions…

Tripoli, spin me some sad story, sell me some excuse to help me understand the things you do... cause the way you treat your lovers, well I just can't relate... well where'd you learn to shoot your gun so straight?! :-(  

Cirque Du Soleil: Saltimbanco

The first time I saw Cirque Du Soleil was last summer, with my family in Montreal. The theme was evolution, entitled TOTEM. And as much as I’d like to say that I loved them, I didn’t. I liked them, but I didn’t love them. I think they’re so overhyped that I had this great expectation from them and they didn’t meet it…

Several months since then, I heard that they were coming to Lebanon. A couple of old friends from Toastmasters were interested in going and so I thought I’d give them another chance with a lighter themed performance, SALTIMBANCO…

We arrived a couple minutes late, with the unorganized parking at Forum. We presented our tickets and quickly found our seats to watch the show. And it was just as I’d expected it to be, good but not good enough. But maybe I’m being biased here, because it wasn’t the greatest night for me...

During the intermission, I got a text message from my boss that tomorrow’s marathon had been postponed due to the current security situation. Shortly after, Dad called, telling me that several main roads in Tripoli had been blocked with burning tires and that they could hear gunshots. I checked BBM and my Twitter and Facebook timelines were all filled with the violence that was erupting back home in Tripoli. And of course I couldn’t concentrate on the show after that…

On the drive back, we got stuck in Jounieh for 2 full hours because they had cut off the highway in order to demolish the burnt carpet factory. After we got out of the traffic and got back on the main road, it was smooth… until we reached Chekka’s tunnel of doom, as I like to call it. The roads got darker and quieter until we reached Tripoli, by then a ghost city. And it all went downhill from there… :-(

N.B. SALTIMBANCO is playing at FORUM DE BEIRUT till MAY 20^TH. 

HAPPY LABOR DAY 2012

Love this brilliant billboard from City Mall! HAPPY LABOR DAY, especially to all my dear colleagues at work: ENJOY! :-)

New BB Offers from MTC Touch and Alfa

I got this SMS from MTC Touch yesterday: “Great News! mtc touch introduces new BlackBerry offers for only 8$/month! Experience BBM, Facebook, Twitter and much more today with Blackberry Social. Call 111”

And me, being an avid BB user, couldn’t help but jump up and do the chicken dance! And what perfect timing, as my BIS expired today, so without thinking I sent “BIS” to 1188 only to receive “… $24 were deducted from your balance.” And unfortunately, that’s how I learned of the new plans! So before you hastily renew your BIS, here’s what you should know:

There are now 3 plans: the regular BIS (Blackberry Internet Service) for $24/month, the BBC (BlackBerry Complete) for $12/month, and the BBS (BlackBerry Social) for $8/month, all depicted in the table below (click to enlarge)

So to subscribe, SMS either “BIS”, “BBC”, or “BBS” to 1188 depending on the plan you want… as for Alfa users, here’s their new BB plan: