Why do we stay here? Why do we come back?
Lebanon is a difficult country to live in. It hardly provides potable water and a regular electricity supply to its residents. Most people cannot access their hard-earned savings because of the banks’ many years of mismanagement, corruption and risky lending to the government. It’s hard to come by reliable public transportation or Internet connection. Every day, there is a plethora of small frustrations: swarms of motorcycles driving in the wrong direction, going “3aks el seir,” the booming sound of privatized water trucks, garbage bins overflowing with garbage, and rats and cats fighting each other for a scrap of discarded food. When you look at Beirut from a distance, the city is covered in a persistent smog, air pollution that is blanketing the city in an ominous cloud.
