Only in Lebanon …

do people wear suits for breakfast and four inch heels to visit ruins.

do people have conversations in French while attending an English-language university even though their first language is Arabic.

do people use French, Arabic and English words as part of a routine sentence eg. MerÇi Ktir, bye.

is everyone you meet related to you from both your mother’s and your father’s sides.

do you arrive at a gated resort where you think you don’t know anyone. However, within minutes you find out that the security guard at the main gate knows you by name and has the ability to tell anyone your whereabouts at any given moment.

does a road to someone’s house turn out to be a highway entrance.

can you fit 5 cars on a two lane road.

do people drive in the opposite direction of traffic on a highway.

do people run across highways.

do people walk casually on highways towards their destination.

does every man, woman and child talk about politics night and day.

do you have to get bomb sniffed before entering a mall or a parking lot.

does a convicted criminal get out of jail to seamlessly get back into politics.

does a movement pushing for secularism team up with a religious movement.

do people treat two nations that have mistreated our people and tried to take over our country differently just because one of them claims to be our sister nation.

do people forget the fact that a politician’s followers killed their families and relatives and stand with them in the next election.

is it acceptable for a politician granting contracts to a company to be the major shareholder in the company.

can politicians buy you a planet ticket to go vote for them.

is it acceptable to buy your customer’s secretary a leather jacket so she can tell you all about the competition.

can you argue your way out of rules.

do people sit randomly on a plane without following their assigned seating.

does a child need not one but two servants to watch her play at the beach.

do families have more cars than the number of people in the household.

do people have to follow laws differently based on what they were told their religion is at birth.

do people get discriminated against when getting a job based on their religious, sex or marital status and they don’t do anything about it.

do people claim that they don’t smoke yet they have to smoke at least one argileh per day.

do hospitals have “DO NOT SMOKE” signs and feel like they have to enforce them .

do people stay thin yet so many have heart disease.

do people drink coffee ten times a day.

do people have a private power generator service in addition to the regular power.

do people prefer to buy products made abroad as opposed to made in their own country.

do people brag about their country’s beauty yet they litter it with garbage.

do passersby get irritated that you’re taking a picture of garbage when they’re the very people who put that garbage there.

do people not make enough money for rent and living expenses yet they spend so much more on clothing, cosmetics and restaurants.

can you buy any type of food at anytime of the day or night off the street (my husband said that it feels like the country is overflowing with food).

do people who own restaurants offer you food and don’t charge you for it treating you like a true guest.

do people go out of their way to take you where you want to go instead of just giving you directions.
are people ready to offer you any type of food you desire even if you visit them unannounced at anytime of day or night.

do people want to leave and go elsewhere very badly but then remember their love for their country once abroad.