Re-entry…

Traveling through Morocco this past week brought with it a host of challenges–ending, of course, with my plane violently blowing a tire on take-off while rushing down the runway in Casablanca (my forehead took home a few scratches as souvenirs). But it wasn’t until I walked around Beirut this afternoon that I was reminded in a very visceral way of the war in Syria next door. From Syrian war refugees begging on the curbs to intellectuals debating sectarian politics in cafes, all afternoon I was reminded of how many facets of our daily life here in Beirut are connected to the ongoing war in neighboring Syria.

“Lebanon has an emotional heaviness to it, because of the war,” I heard a filmmaker sitting next to me say to her friend today at my favorite cafe.

After all, just today in Lebanon, four rockets from Syria hit Hermel, and gunfire ripped through the streets of Tripoli.

“Every time I come here, I get a full blown anxiety disorder, so if you get anxious or depressed, just remember–it’s not necessarily you,” the filmmaker added.

Having been away from the bombings, gunfire, and political wranglings for a week, I’d forgotten how heavy the instability, violence, and uncertainty can sometimes feel. And yet, having stepped off the plane just last night (grateful to be alive), it really feels wonderful to be back home…