Monday we hung out at the pool all day. We did get to see a women bleaching her mustache there, so that was awesome. Gretchen, Mike, their friend, Jesse and Ryan and I were loving it. That night we went to Gretchen and Mike's landlord's house for dinner. We had such a great time talking to him since he has so many interesting stories. He was telling us about how during the Civil War there were squatters in his building from the opposition. I can't even imagine what it was like here then. By the end of the night we were all a little goofy, and he brought out some great hats.
Tuesday we had our Lebanese cooking class at Tawlet. Gretchen had it set up for all of us and it was so much fun. We learned to make a few classic Lebanese dishes and had a lot of laughs. Thankfully, they did most of the cooking, since I was told right away how terrible my knife skills are, not the first time someone has told me that either.
Wednesday we took the schools kayaks out on the Med. It is crazy that we are right on the water, but don't get to go in it. There are not a lot of beaches close by, and the water isn't as clean as I would like. There isn't a lot of water treatment here, and there is definitely some dumping going on. Also, a lot of trash. I just want to shake the people who throw their garbage in the water, but I haven't, don't worry mom. Anyways, the water was so calm and we took a double kayak with our friend Jesse and our neighbor Jamil. (They had their own double kayak). We went to pigeon rocks, which was so beautiful. We were kayaking for probably around 2 hours. I was sore the next day for sure.
Thursday we took an incredible trip to Baalbek. Ryan posted all about that so I won't go into much about it. It is so crazy how old these ruins are, and how many different groups of people have inhabited them. We were really close to the Syrian border, with a tour group, so not a lot of people were at the ruins. It is really a shame. They were definitely some of the best ruins I have ever seen, and way better than the acropolis.
Friday we had school for the first time that week, and surprisingly there were a lot of kids there. It was great to see all of them again. I love how easy it is to develop relationships with the students, and how incredible they all are. I miss my students from Argo for sure, and I was definitely scared before moving that I wouldn't be able to have the same relationships with these kids, and I was thankfully, wrong. That night we hung out and had some delicious italian food at our favorite local spot Appettito Trattoria, run by a great woman named Diana.
Saturday we were supposed to go camping, but the impending rain made us cancel. It didn't rain either, so I think Ryan was really disappointed. We will get to go some other time. The mountains aren't going anywhere.
Tonight is chili at our house with some friends coming over to watch the Bears game. I went out today to buy all the fresh ingredients, it is so cheap to buy great produce here. I am excited because it got a little cooler, about mid 70s today, so it feels good to have some chili.
On a side note, an article came out ranking Beirut higher than a lot of European cities, including Paris, for best places to visit. We have a guest room waiting!
Jesse and Jamil crossing the Corniche with the kayak.
Pigeon Rocks
Minnows!
Great bus!
Temple of Jupiter
Temple of Bacchus
Anjar
Our new friend Fiona, from Ireland in town to learn to cook Lebanese food 
The food we kind of prepared
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