Sylvia's Journal

I am enjoying my first day of vacation which started right after the packing was done. I packed all the clothes that expose body parts not allowed to be seen in public here. It felt a little naughty: shorts, sleeveless dress, tank tops, bathing suit.

Our plane leaves at 6 PM, at least as per schedule, which puts us in Dubai around 9 PM. We hope to try out dinner in one of those restaurants that stay open (and busy) until 3 AM.

Tomorrow we fly to Beirut, a return after 32 years. We left it in 1978 as an immediate post conflict place with houses in ruins and bullet holes everywhere, and no downtown to speak off (other than the shells of buildings that were eventually torn down). From Beirut we travelled over land by public transport to Afghanistan, taking several weeks. Now we are making the trip back by air in less than 24 hours.