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    "Top blog/Renato Obeid's World/Today's pick: This rambling weblog is worth reading not so much for its satirical posts but more for its insight into the minutiae of life in Lebanon, including the etiquette of road accidents and how to hire a taxi.” -Jane Perrone, The Guardian

    renatoobeidsworld
     
    Friday, June 06, 2003  
    A little more conversation!
    Straight off the Dictaphone – complete and unabridged.

    THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY.

    2.23 AM on Sunday 1st of June 2003.
    I record this with the sounds of the culmination of the Maronite* haj ( pilgrimage ) in the background.
    It’s still yesterday - in that technically yesterday ( Saturday 31st of May ) was the final day of the Maronite Month of Mary ( its actually commemorated by the entire catholic church but I don’t know of any other county, e.g. Saudi Arabia, where its so avidly COMMEMERATED! ) where thousands, possibly hundreds of thousands throughout the entire month, of the faithful visit the main Maronite cathedral, Our Lady of Lebanon, in Harisa, the “Vatican” of the Maronite faith.
    Many of them walking up – mainly from Jounieh (the Christian capital of sorts**) but some from as far afield as Beirut and the north.
    I’m a multiple haj myself, having performed the pilgrimage a couple of times.
    All be it walking up there from the relative proximity of the Paradise Buildings, where I’m ensconced, - some two kilometers away ( down the mountain from the cathedral ) and nestled between that cathedral and the Patriarchate of the Maronite church at Bkerki ( the seat of the Maronite Patriarch ) which is, once again, some two kilometers away but down the mountain this time.
    Small wonder that this is called the Holy Mountain.
    And it is blessed by more then it's proximity to holy sites - some of the best views in the world.
    I am some three hundred metres up a verdant mountain that immediately overlooks the city of Jounieh -nestled in a lovely wide harbour on the mediteranian - (and then half of Lebanon) i.e mountains,city and coast all stuck together, even the Japanese couldnt make something as compact as Lebanon where practicaly everywhere you look you find a vista worthy of a snowglobe and the size of a snowglobe.
    And small wonder that the authorities want to makes this mountain a national park.
    I'm against this though - I'll be living in a park and bears will come and steal pies I've left out to cool on my window sill and steal my picnic baskets!
    Doesnt the government watch Yogi Bear?
    What do they do all day?
    I can see people walking up with candles and bouquet of flowers in their hands to present to the Virgin Mary.
    10:08 am

     
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