missed calling

definition: calling someone, allowing the phone to ring once, and then hanging up such that your name and number register on the callee's phone as a "missed call."

"missed calling" people is a lebanese phenomenon. it is the result of the cell phone monopoly of alfa and mct touch, which allows both companies to charge obscene amounts for plans and even the purchase of a phone. a USED phone. just to give an idea:
- a used phone will cost somewhere between $30-110, depending on where and how assholish the seller is, how foreign and/or clueless you are, and how willing you and the seller are to bargain. a new phone starts around $110. also, there is much speculation that all phones are ones that lebanon gets from the us and then hacks into in order to enable them to continue with their overcharging ridiculousness.
- it costs minimum $55 to activate a phone and for your first month, or something. things are done by units here. i don't know exactly what that means, but it seems like each unit is equivalent to a dollar and local calls get charged as 50 cents/minute or something totally obscene like that. i don't know whether text messages count, but local ones are 9 cents/message and international ones are...a lot more. i don't know. i don't like text messages that much.
- i think each set of 125 units is supposed to last a month, but unused units roll over if you purchase another 125 units for $42, i think. no unlimited evenings and weekends, no unlimited incoming calls, no long distance minutes included.

this is where missed calling comes in.

besides its function to show off your high-class number to someone you're looking to impress, missed calling has 2 other applications:
1. making it so that there is a lesser likelihood that you will enter someone's number into your phone incorrectly. for example:
person a: give me your number!
person b: ok, it's 03/555444. [unsaid implication: i paid $4000 for it.]
a: thanks. hang on, i'll missed call you.
(b receives a's call, thereby getting a's number.)
2. to communicate certain things without using minutes/units. my friend, nour, explained it to me: "you might get a missed call before you go to sleep and that means 'good night.' or one during the day and that means 'how are you?'. then at other times, one missed call means 'i'm on campus.' two means 'i'm at this building.' three means 'i'm going out tonight.'" etc. etc.

can you imagine someone calling and hanging up 3 times?? i would kill myself. i'm sure it's going to happen to me at some point, though, so you all should be prepared.

***
another topic.

a bomb exploded on the corniche (essentially down the street) late last night. i never would have known had not the president of the university told me when i ate dinner with him this evening. (for those who don't know, i know the president of aub because i found out by chance over the summer that he is my friend's uncle. he also used to teach at the woodrow wilson institute at princeton.) the newspaper didn't report it, though, as i noticed when i arrived here. apparently, only bombs that result in deaths make news and even then, sometimes only the important deaths. nonetheless, as i've been told by others here, the president and his wife told me that beirut proper is safe, even the christian areas, which, minus a few notable exceptions, have been where explosions have happened. the christian areas, coincidentally, are some of the most enjoyable parts of the city: monot, the epicenter of clubs and bars; achrafiyeh, which boasts amazing restaurants, one of which i've already been to; and jumeyziy, a shopping hub.

does that seem weird to you? it does to me, but perhaps that's because i'm new here.