Today, I spent mostly in bed, curing my cold, which seems to have become a sort of light flu. The first thing I noticed in the morning was the amount of continuous honking on the streets. During the day, observing the street from the balcony, I realized that this is due to the following things, resulting from the misconception that although the Lebanese really think they are the best drivers in the world - and will get really upset if you say otherwise - they simply don’t know how to drive:
1. They speed all the time without a reason, as if their life depended on getting to their destination as fast as possible, and beep at anyone who is driving slower in front of them¬;
2. They suddenly stop in the middle of the road, get out of the car and leave their car double parked, if they can, since everyone behind them starts honking until they give up on this idea, and speed away;
3. They try crazy maneuvers such as backing into the opposite lane from a side road, blocking both lanes of traffic, until the honking discourages them;
4. They ignore one-way signs, and then honk at each other when encountering oncoming traffic, until someone gives up.
All these situations result in continuous honking and beeping, additionally, the always-present taxis honk at passing pedestrians to advertise that they are free and can be hailed they have the idea that if they are in one of the ubiquitous traffic jams, honking will magically dispel the cars in front of them, and result in an open road. At night we were invited for dinner and I had my first traditional Lebanese meal –prepared by an Italian, Manu’s roommate Corinna - at the house of Jamal, a young professor, and the son of a Greek Orthodox politician of the Lebanese Communist Party. Wearing my Che T-shirt - suggested by Manu to please Jamal - we were picked up near our place with, Johan a French kid living here and his girlfriend Reema. We had a nice time, sitting in Jamal’s “arab room” on cushions, drinking Lebanese wine and chatting about various aspects of Lebanon and Capitalism.