the human province

Sometimes I wonder why Cyprus, a country that is still divided despite its recent membership in the EU, can be so successful compared to Lebanon, which has, to my mind, better food, friendlier people and equally nice weather. Then the electricity gets cut for a few hours and the water goes out, leaving me unable to shave or bathe before going into work.

I asked an Ethiopian acquaintance of mine yesterday if they had similar problems in Addis Ababa. She told me that while the electricity situation was worse than in Beirut, they always had more than enough water.

Shaving from a bottle of mineral water and having to hold it until I get to work because I can't flush the toilet remind me that Lebanon has a long way to go despite my occasional bouts of optimism.

In any other country, candidates on both local and national scales would be winning elections based on campaign promises to fix, or at least improve, these problems. It seems that this is not a major part of anyone's political platform in Lebanon.

For those few of you who have noticed, I haven't written in a while. This was mostly due to a change in jobs, a more permanent move (everything has been sent from Paris to Beirut and should now be on a boat somewhere in between) and the end of a big project.

When it rains it pours, I suppose. But so far so good.

In any case, I'm more or less settled into my new schedule and my new office. Time's going to be a little thin here at the beginning, but I think once I get into the groove of things, I'll find the time to post on a regular basis again.

As a good friend of mine oft reminds me: writin' is fightin'. The bell's about to ring, and I'm almost done.

I should be back here soon.

Sometimes I wonder why Cyprus, a country that is still divided despite its recent membership in the EU, can be so successful compared to Lebanon, which has, to my mind, better food, friendlier people and equally nice weather. Then the electricity gets cut for a few hours and the water goes out, leaving me unable to shave or bathe before going into work.

I asked an Ethiopian acquaintance of mine yesterday if they had similar problems in Addis Ababa. She told me that while the electricity situation was worse than in Beirut, they always had more than enough water.

Shaving from a bottle of mineral water and having to hold it until I get to work because I can't flush the toilet remind me that Lebanon has a long way to go despite my occasional bouts of optimism.

In any other country, candidates on both local and national scales would be winning elections based on campaign promises to fix, or at least improve, these problems. It seems that this is not a major part of anyone's political platform in Lebanon.

For those few of you who have noticed, I haven't written in a while. This was mostly due to a change in jobs, a more permanent move (everything has been sent from Paris to Beirut and should now be on a boat somewhere in between) and the end of a big project.

When it rains it pours, I suppose. But so far so good.

In any case, I'm more or less settled into my new schedule and my new office. Time's going to be a little thin here at the beginning, but I think once I get into the groove of things, I'll find the time to post on a regular basis again.

As a good friend of mine oft reminds me: writin' is fightin'. The bell's about to ring, and I'm almost done.

I should be back here soon.

Sometimes I wonder why Cyprus, a country that is still divided despite its recent membership in the EU, can be so successful compared to Lebanon, which has, to my mind, better food, friendlier people and equally nice weather. Then the electricity gets cut for a few hours and the water goes out, leaving me unable to shave or bathe before going into work.

I asked an Ethiopian acquaintance of mine yesterday if they had similar problems in Addis Ababa. She told me that while the electricity situation was worse than in Beirut, they always had more than enough water.

Shaving from a bottle of mineral water and having to hold it until I get to work because I can't flush the toilet remind me that Lebanon has a long way to go despite my occasional bouts of optimism.

In any other country, candidates on both local and national scales would be winning elections based on campaign promises to fix, or at least improve, these problems. It seems that this is not a major part of anyone's political platform in Lebanon.

For those few of you who have noticed, I haven't written in a while. This was mostly due to a change in jobs, a more permanent move (everything has been sent from Paris to Beirut and should now be on a boat somewhere in between) and the end of a big project.

When it rains it pours, I suppose. But so far so good.

In any case, I'm more or less settled into my new schedule and my new office. Time's going to be a little thin here at the beginning, but I think once I get into the groove of things, I'll find the time to post on a regular basis again.

As a good friend of mine oft reminds me: writin' is fightin'. The bell's about to ring, and I'm almost done.

I should be back here soon.

Sometimes I wonder why Cyprus, a country that is still divided despite its recent membership in the EU, can be so successful compared to Lebanon, which has, to my mind, better food, friendlier people and equally nice weather. Then the electricity gets cut for a few hours and the water goes out, leaving me unable to shave or bathe before going into work.

I asked an Ethiopian acquaintance of mine yesterday if they had similar problems in Addis Ababa. She told me that while the electricity situation was worse than in Beirut, they always had more than enough water.

Shaving from a bottle of mineral water and having to hold it until I get to work because I can't flush the toilet remind me that Lebanon has a long way to go despite my occasional bouts of optimism.

In any other country, candidates on both local and national scales would be winning elections based on campaign promises to fix, or at least improve, these problems. It seems that this is not a major part of anyone's political platform in Lebanon.

For those few of you who have noticed, I haven't written in a while. This was mostly due to a change in jobs, a more permanent move (everything has been sent from Paris to Beirut and should now be on a boat somewhere in between) and the end of a big project.

When it rains it pours, I suppose. But so far so good.

In any case, I'm more or less settled into my new schedule and my new office. Time's going to be a little thin here at the beginning, but I think once I get into the groove of things, I'll find the time to post on a regular basis again.

As a good friend of mine oft reminds me: writin' is fightin'. The bell's about to ring, and I'm almost done.

I should be back here soon.

Sometimes I wonder why Cyprus, a country that is still divided despite its recent membership in the EU, can be so successful compared to Lebanon, which has, to my mind, better food, friendlier people and equally nice weather. Then the electricity gets cut for a few hours and the water goes out, leaving me unable to shave or bathe before going into work.

I asked an Ethiopian acquaintance of mine yesterday if they had similar problems in Addis Ababa. She told me that while the electricity situation was worse than in Beirut, they always had more than enough water.

Shaving from a bottle of mineral water and having to hold it until I get to work because I can't flush the toilet remind me that Lebanon has a long way to go despite my occasional bouts of optimism.

In any other country, candidates on both local and national scales would be winning elections based on campaign promises to fix, or at least improve, these problems. It seems that this is not a major part of anyone's political platform in Lebanon.

For those few of you who have noticed, I haven't written in a while. This was mostly due to a change in jobs, a more permanent move (everything has been sent from Paris to Beirut and should now be on a boat somewhere in between) and the end of a big project.

When it rains it pours, I suppose. But so far so good.

In any case, I'm more or less settled into my new schedule and my new office. Time's going to be a little thin here at the beginning, but I think once I get into the groove of things, I'll find the time to post on a regular basis again.

As a good friend of mine oft reminds me: writin' is fightin'. The bell's about to ring, and I'm almost done.

I should be back here soon.

Sometimes I wonder why Cyprus, a country that is still divided despite its recent membership in the EU, can be so successful compared to Lebanon, which has, to my mind, better food, friendlier people and equally nice weather. Then the electricity gets cut for a few hours and the water goes out, leaving me unable to shave or bathe before going into work.

I asked an Ethiopian acquaintance of mine yesterday if they had similar problems in Addis Ababa. She told me that while the electricity situation was worse than in Beirut, they always had more than enough water.

Shaving from a bottle of mineral water and having to hold it until I get to work because I can't flush the toilet remind me that Lebanon has a long way to go despite my occasional bouts of optimism.

In any other country, candidates on both local and national scales would be winning elections based on campaign promises to fix, or at least improve, these problems. It seems that this is not a major part of anyone's political platform in Lebanon.

For those few of you who have noticed, I haven't written in a while. This was mostly due to a change in jobs, a more permanent move (everything has been sent from Paris to Beirut and should now be on a boat somewhere in between) and the end of a big project.

When it rains it pours, I suppose. But so far so good.

In any case, I'm more or less settled into my new schedule and my new office. Time's going to be a little thin here at the beginning, but I think once I get into the groove of things, I'll find the time to post on a regular basis again.

As a good friend of mine oft reminds me: writin' is fightin'. The bell's about to ring, and I'm almost done.

I should be back here soon.