11 Ways Moving Back To Lebanon Changes You

If you lived away from Lebanon for more than 5 years and you suddenly move back, you’re sure to see the country in a whole new light. Your new perspective will also result in Lebanon changing you, too. Here are some of the ways in which moving back to Lebanon after a long time away can change you as a person.

1. You’ll stop using your feet

Although it’s such a small city, once you move to Beirut you’ll stop walking to places. Despite the fact that you used to have an hour walk to class every day in London for four years, the second you move back to Beirut your feet become useless. You’ll find yourself getting in the car or ordering a taxi for a journey that could’ve taken 10 minutes by foot, and will probably take 35 minutes by car.

2. You’re instantly immersed in a complex social circle

No matter how long you’ve been away for, the moment you return to Beirut your social life will change. Even if you only have a couple good friends here, you’ll find yourself immediately immersed in a complex social myriad of he saids and she saids and gossip galore, even if you don’t really care.

3. Personal life becomes family life

You might have been away for a while which created some distance between you and yours. But once you land, you are once again a vital member of your Lebanese family clan.

4. You lose all sense of privacy

Because of the two points above, this makes sense. Everyone around you will pry so consistently that your distant acquaintance that you met last week for the first time will know what you had for breakfast this morning. It’s a Lebanese science.

5. And you lose the concept of personal space

Where in London you used to just nod politely at someone as a greeting, here, a simple greeting with a stranger involves a series of cheek-to-cheek kisses, and a hug to seal them in.

6. You become a trafficologist

Within one week of living in Beirut you become increasingly aware of the cycles of the city’s traffic. You’ll plan your outings accordingly and somehow manage to get from Achrafieh to Hamra in less than 7 minutes, when your friend gets foolishly stuck in traffic for an hour and a half.

7. You develop two personalities

One for Beirut, and one for the Day3a.

8. You start drinking way more than you used to

How is it that when I lived in Canada I barely drank, and moving back to Beirut has seen me become a low-key alcoholic?

9. You become a street food fiend

From manakeesh for breakfast and shawarma for lunch, with freshly squeezed juice on the side of each, you become a self-sufficient street kid once you move back to Lebanon.

10. You start making conversations with people you barely know

A walk on the street in Beirut is always an opportunity to make a new friend. I don’t know if it’s because everyone is bored or just really, really nice, but it’s a thing. In big cities around the world people like to keep to themselves. Not in Lebanon!

11. There is no escape

Once you move back to Lebanon, it becomes impossible to even contemplate leaving.