Lebanon

Yesterday, I helped my paternal grandparents clean out their attic. We got rid of a lot of the stuff they didn't want, but the stuff they did keep was amazing.

My grandfather keeps a lot of old photographs from his childhood. Some of the photos are really funny. There is one photo I really like of Grandpa when he was my age. In it, he's wearing his work clothes and standing next to a donkey. He has a huge grin on his face. The donkey looks like it's grinning too. It always cracks ...

I admit, I have been stressed out lately. You probably noticed from my rants in my blog.

There was a big fuss over my grandfather's oldest sister, Alia, who had been suffering from dementia. She passed away three days ago at the age of 89. She lived back in Lebanon with her youngest daughter.

The big problem lies with her oldest grandchild: my second cousin Irfan. Irfan recently turned 40, but damn, he doesn't act like it! He's quite rapacious - he was looking to get ...

I forgot to tell you this, but two weeks ago was Eid al-Fitr. I'll tell you what I did.

My family woke up pretty early. Since I usually wake up early, I don't have a problem with it. We got dressed up to go to the mosque, where we spent a lot of the day. I'm close with the imam, who is actually quite friendly. The prayers were in Arabic, like they usually are.

Dinner was pretty big too. We had so much food. I think I overdosed on the chicken, since my brother said there ...

I am getting tired of people's misconceptions about my birth country of Lebanon. They really bother me. People think it's a backward country where people act like it's still the Middle Ages. I can't take their complaints.

Let me clear up some myths:

First off, most Lebanese people dress normally. It's pretty much the norm among men to wear Western clothing. Some of the Muslim women wear headscarves, although it's less frequent than in other Arab countries. My maternal ...

Recently, I was waiting in a restaurant, listening to my iPod while I did so. This one guy behind me talked to me. I think he was Egyptian, judging by his accent. He saw that I was listening to a song. He thought it was Haifa Wehbe, a popular Lebanese singer. I informed him that it was actually not her (it was another Lebanese singer). Then he said, "I thought since you were Lebanese..."

I twitched my eye angrily at him. I didn't want to yell, so I had to step ...