bureacracy + promised observations

i didn't think any other university in the world could have more bureaucracy than mcgill, especially a much smaller one like...oh, i don't know...aub, maybe.

this is what i've done today:

we were supposed to meet in front of west hall at 8:30 to do registration things and then we were going to go to jessup hall. i get to west hall...no one. jessup hall...no one, except this syrian kid named sami who was just as lost as i was so we made friends and wandered aimlessly together until we finally found where everyone else was with the help of the omnipotent overseer of the international students, ms. caroline chalouhi. she reminds me of hartman in that she functions on a higher plane than the rest of the human race. if she didn't exist, i don't think aub would take international students because we would all probably fall over and die of confusion upon arrival and perhaps even before then.

so i went with zoe (from virginia, goes to princeton and i met her at the latter a couple weeks ago) to the arabic department to talk with the head to find out about some stuff. she wasn't there, but another professor was and he seemed very interested in us and then directed us to the center for arab and m.e. studies (cames). we went, found out things about the colloquial lebanese course (which i've decided i'm going to take even though it's at 8am because i can't handle being dysfunctional here), but not about the modern standard arabic. meh. we continued our quest to get shit done and went to the library to check something on the computers, but upon entering, saw that our id cards do not register and thus, we can't swipe in. i also realized last night that i was still unable to get onto the computers, including my own if i want to use the internet. we then went to the main advisor woman for the faculty of arts and sciences and she approved us for our courses and we felt very accomplished, though there were still the aforementioned issues that had to be dealt with so, obviously, we went to caroline. she called lots of people to try to solve our problems, but the only one who could was out, so she told me to come back later. in the meantime, i tried to register for my courses, but they were all full, as they have been for 2 weeks, so i have to wait until tomorrow to try to get overrides. AND because i can't log onto computers, i couldn't get my own computer configured for the aub wireless, so i still don't have internet and i want to pummel someone. conclusion: aub kicks the shit out of mcgill re: bureaucracy. i feel like this should be on ripley's believe it or not.

i'm done bitching. this is what i've been doing. i'm going to start with orientation day because that's when i started doing things other than aimless wandering and flaunting my deficiencies in arabic.

that night (2 nights ago), we went on a bus tour of the city, which, like i said yesterday, is stunning. there are lots of different neighborhoods and each has a different character. we drove down the corniche (the waterfront) and saw the rawsheh rocks, went to verdun and concorde (fancy shopping places), downtown, and then had a dinner as detailed yesterday in achrafiyeh. i found downtown very interesting: ruins and very grand buildings juxtaposed with ancient ruins and long pedestrian-only avenues filled with people sitting outside at restaurants and cafes eating, drinking, or smoking arguileh (sheesha). we went past hariri's grave, saw his last footsteps before he got into his car nearly a year ago, and drove by the square where thousands of people gathered in the wake of hariri's death to commemorate him and voice their views and counter-views on syria's place in lebanon. we also drove by the place where hariri was actually assassinated and it's still in ruins because it had to be preserved for investigations. it's not far from aub at all and, in fact, current students told me that the entire campus shook when the explosion happened and everyone started running because it sounded as though the school itself had been bombed.

as we drove around, i learned that many places in the city have been the victims of the recent bombings. i didn't realize this before i got here because i don't think everything is reported which is revealing in itself. everyone i've talked to so far has been of the opinion that beirut is not inherently dangerous since all of the bombings that have happened have had very few casualties besides their intended targets. moreover, no place has been bombed twice so people joke that it's preferable to go to places that have already been hit because the likelihood of them getting it a second time is low. the mentality takes some getting used to and when i'm lying in bed, i half expect to hear something go off down the street. i do feel safe, though, and i'm getting more comfortable everyday.

i have to get going...someone else needs the computer and i have to go back to campus to deal with more things and then i'm meeting a friend of nizar's, nour, to walk around so i can buy stuff. enjoy your day.