Beirutista

Do you remember as a child being prompted with the question, “Who do you most admire?” Apart from my parents, naturally, my role model was Sir Richard Branson, British billionaire, entrepreneur and business mogul who in the 1970s founded the Virgin Group. Today Virgin controls more than 400 companies in various fields. In some way or another, we’ve all been touched by Virgin. I’ll start. Every day I tune in to Virgin Radio here in Beirut, which launched a good decade ago and has easily led its peers in music and content programming. I have flown on Virgin Atlantic (and Virgin America) numerously. We often shop for our electronics needs at Virgin Megastore, which boasts a network of branches throughout Lebanon. Arguably, most people know of Sir Richard, perhaps through one of his many books. My friend once mailed me “Screw It, Let’s Do It” (2006), which he picked up at an airport, leafed through ravenously on his flight, and was convinced I’d appreciate. I did. And I have hung on to it ...

The motivation to travel to Athens was two-fold: (1) the direct flight from Beirut is a mere hour and a half, and (2) my understanding of Greece had heretofore been limited to its coastal resorts. It seemed appropriate to visit the capital of a country considered to be the cradle of Western civilization, where landmarks like the Parthenon at the Acropolis date back to the 5 th century B.C. So we booked our flights, homed in on an Airbnb in the heart of the city, and dashed away during the second week of April. Our first impression upon landing was how unusually quiet the airport is. We completed passport control, claimed our baggage, and nabbed a cab at the curb all within 10 minutes after deplaning. When will we ever be able to say the same for Beirut? The drive into the city takes about 45 minutes, with lush green expanses of olive trees and fields on either side of the slick highway. Once you reach the periphery of Athens, however, the scenery changes markedly. In fact, it...

In Lebanon, sacramental events like baptism, first Holy Communion, and marriage can easily spiral into lavish affairs. Lebanese love to celebrate big, and that kind of festive spirit extends even to deeply religious occasions. Modesty is rarely the motif! Contrarily, my husband and I tend to be understated in our approach. Two weeks ago, we baptized our seven-month-old son Stephen in the presence of an intimate few. The ceremony was beautiful and symbolic; the lunch reception following it, chic and idyllic; and the keepsakes, lovingly handcrafted with ornate detail. If I were to describe the day in two words, it would be elegant subtlety, and we wanted Stephen’s first sacrament to embody that. The Ceremony St. Paul’s Basilica in Harissa holds monumental significance to our family. It was where Jimmy and I united in holy matrimony over three and a half years ago. It was the church in which Jimmy himself was baptized some three decades ago. And it is where we wished to chr...

Ask an adult what their fondest memories of childhood are, and you’re certain to hear mention of a festive birthday party, or graduation from elementary school, or perhaps a visit from the tooth fairy. Life is punctuated by tiny moments of pure, unadulterated happiness. Capturing those precious memories with a greeting card allows us to celebrate them again and again as we grow older. As children of the '90s, the overarching philosophy taught at school was “it’s not the gift that counts but the thought behind it.” In fact, gifts took a backseat to charming, sometimes handmade, greeting cards. Mother’s Day around the corner? We’d fashion a colorful card from construction paper and insert silly vouchers Mom could cash in, like “one free carwash” or “breakfast in bed” delivered by us kids. If we were on the receiving end of someone’s generosity, we'd eagerly anticipate the greeting card that accompanied the present. I’m not exaggerating. The first thing we did when we rec...