{"id":125742,"date":"2021-07-20T12:56:41","date_gmt":"2021-07-20T10:56:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.proterrasancta.org\/?post_type=en-post&p=125742"},"modified":"2021-09-05T10:59:05","modified_gmt":"2021-09-05T08:59:05","slug":"carnet-du-voyage-lebanon-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/preprod.proterrasancta.org\/en\/carnet-du-voyage-lebanon-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Carnet de voyage – Lebanon #1"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Day 1: the arrival <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

by Giacomo Pizzi <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

We landed in Beirut at 22.30 from Istanbul. We have been traveling since 11 AM and only took off the mask for eating. At the passport control the queue is neverending: there is a crowd of at least 200 people, mostly families with screaming kids tortured by the infinite waiting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trip was so long and now we are exhausted. I can’t even imagine how difficult it might have been for a child. In front of us a baby girl of a few months is crying out her lungs and nobody seems able to calm her down, nor her mom, dad and the older siblings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She is, more or less, 1 year old, like my daughter, and thank God I\u2019m not with her in such a situation: the line is moving slowly and we still have a long way to go. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After an hour and a half we passed the controls but we were not done: before taking our luggages we had to be checked for Covid. Even if we are fully vaccinated and had a PCR test done a few hours before departing, we had to take another one at the arrival and we will be noted of the results tomorrow via whatsapp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After another 2 hours we got our luggages: it\u2019s time to head out. Fadi, our Projects Coordinator in Lebanon, waited for us outside for 3 hours.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My colleague Giacomo came here a few months ago but, even for him, the long waiting hours are a novelty. We asked Fadi why the situation is like this: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYour flight landed with other 6 flights\u201d, he explains, \u201cit\u2019s high season and expat families are coming back to Lebanon for their holidays. In summer many Lebanese people come back to see their relatives but this year they are even more numerous: thanks to the collapse of Lebanese pounds, with 1000 dollars a family can pay for a holiday that would have cost them 3\/4000 US dollars total\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For expat families, the devaluation of the Lebanese pound is a marvellous opportunity. It is though the only positive outcome of a terrible situation: who lives and works here is living in a nightmare.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2019 default, Covid emergency paralyzing the country and the tragic explosions that devastated Beirut\u2019s harbour in August 2020 making 300.000 lose their homes, made an already fragile and corrupted Government fall.<\/strong> No one is able to face the tragic series of unfortunate events that has been taking place since months. It\u2019s an avalanche. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Major consequence is the growing distrust of an authority not able to protect the Lebanese population and more prone to prioritize their own interest. In the meanwhile, the Country is falling down a deep hole. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the half an hour car ride toward the Convent of Saint Joseph in Beirut, where we are going to stay, we start to see the effects of the crisis. While driving through the highway in complete darkness, long lines of cars parked in the vicinity of fuel pumps can be seen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n