This picture was taken in Ashrafiyeh, a neighborhood I got to know when I lived there for one month at my friend Kristin's house. You can't really make it out, but the glowing sign is for Dou Dou Chinese Restaurant. An eyebrow-raising name,but pretty good Chinese food.

I live about a five-minute walk from the Mediterranean. I have had time to go down there once, and it was at night. It was still nice to hear crashing waves, feel the spray on my face, and see what the downtown looks like all aglow.

I hope I can come home with a nice persian rug...like this one.

The old buildings are usually inspired by either Ottoman architecture or Islamic.

These quirky stringed instruments are called auods, and are heavily present in Middle Eastern music. The Walton's, my missionary friends, invited me to a concert that was all traditional Lebanese music, and the above instruments probably made up a quarter of the orchestra. The music was fabulous.