{"id":37348,"date":"2014-12-26T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-12-26T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beirut.com\/37348\/the-holidays-in-lebanon-expectation-vs-reality"},"modified":"2014-12-26T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2014-12-26T00:00:00","slug":"the-holidays-in-lebanon-expectation-vs-reality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beirut.com\/en\/37348\/the-holidays-in-lebanon-expectation-vs-reality\/","title":{"rendered":"The Holidays in Lebanon: Expectation vs. Reality"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Nothing can give you that warm and fuzzy feeling quite like the holiday season; decorations go up, radio stations play songs that remind you of your childhood, and you finally have an excuse to eat your body weight in cake and sugar. <\/p>\n<p>  However, nothing can take that fuzzy feeling away and fill it with a deep-seated rage faster than experiencing the holiday season in Lebanon. What you thought was going to be a restful and joyous season turns you into Ebenezer Scrooge. Here is how the holiday season usually pans out in Lebanon.<\/p>\n<p>  <b><big><big>Family<\/b><\/big><\/big><br \/>  <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.tumblr.com\/b2ae903e79c5518894d90157713295d0\/tumblr_inline_mmn4lccyse1qfelxu.gif\" width=\"100%\"><\/p>\n<p>  <b>Expectation:<\/b> I cannot wait to have the entire family under one roof, we\u2019ll drink, laugh, and be merry. Family is truly the most important thing! <\/p>\n<p>  <b>Reality: <\/b>Somebody shut the kids up. Somebody shut my aunt up. I might kill someone before dinner is over. <\/p>\n<p>  <b><big><big>Going Out<\/b><\/big><\/big><br \/>  <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-BmztlYSpuZs\/UpTk-QYZP1I\/AAAAAAAAP-s\/7V-frEDWsBM\/s1600\/1.gif\" width=\"100%\"><\/p>\n<p>  <b>Expectation: <\/b>Let us savor the festive season and take advantage of how cozy coffee shops and restaurants will feel. <\/p>\n<p>  <b>Reality: <\/b>Cozily getting stuck in two and a half hours worth of traffic at that one Achrafieh intersection.<\/p>\n<p>  <b><big><big>Eating<\/b><\/big><\/big><br \/>  <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media1.mic.com\/site\/article-items\/27325\/1_gif.gif\" width=\"100%\"><\/p>\n<p>  <b>Expectation:<\/b> I\u2019ll eat a hearty, delicious, and balanced meal; I\u2019ll control myself this year because the holidays aren&#8217;t just about gorging yourself on food.<\/p>\n<p>  <b>Reality: <\/b>Give me that baguette and look away. <\/p>\n<p>  <b><big><big>Entertainment<\/b><\/big><\/big><br \/>  <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/38.media.tumblr.com\/6ac31f56af1d02023ef280a2fdeb805d\/tumblr_mfiipeSwN11qjd1y3o1_500.gif\" width=\"100%\"><\/p>\n<p>  <b>Expectation: <\/b>Let\u2019s partake in some cool holiday events.<\/p>\n<p>  <b>Reality: <\/b>I see prices have been jacked by a cool 500%. I\u2019ll be home until January 2. <\/p>\n<p>  <b><big><big>Music<\/b><\/big><\/big><br \/>  <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-3kgyaXDuk9A\/UMwHQThSDuI\/AAAAAAAAAv4\/Ps1qCm-fWAg\/s1600\/Mariah+Christmas.gif\" width=\"100%\"><\/p>\n<p>  <b>Expectation:<\/b> I love Christmas music, I can\u2019t wait to hear all the festive songs and really get into the spirit!<\/p>\n<p>  <b>Reality: <\/b> I want to drive to New York City and find Mariah Carey so I can personally stab her in the face with a jingle bell if I hear \u201cAll I Want For Christmas Is You\u201d one more time.<\/p>\n<p>  <b><big><big>Weather<\/b><\/big><\/big><br \/>  <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/33.media.tumblr.com\/tumblr_mehmfsNt6b1qidxi4o1_500.gif\" width=\"100%\"><\/p>\n<p>  <b>Expectation: <\/b>Let\u2019s huddle around the fireplace (or any alternative ghetto heating source) and enjoy the stormy weather.<\/p>\n<p>  <b>Reality:<\/b> \u2026And another bridge is collapsing, our infrastructure is bursting at the seams. Good job, Lebanon. <\/p>\n<p>  <b><big><big>Gifting<\/b><\/big><\/big><br \/>  <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thekenyonthrill.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/12\/office-christmas-gi.gif\" width=\"100%\"><\/p>\n<p>  <b>Expectation: <\/b>This year I will shop ahead of time and give thoughtful and personalized gifts to each of my loved ones.<\/p>\n<p>  <b>Reality:<\/b> You\u2019re getting a mug. <\/p>\n<p>  <b><big><big>Romance<\/b><\/big><\/big><br \/>  <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/heavyeditorial.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/12\/tumblr_lwoeinjmin1qd5bcwo1_500.gif?w=780\" width=\"100%\"><\/p>\n<p>  <b>Expectation: <\/b>It\u2019s a wonderful time of year to meet somebody special and to dedicate yourself to a fresh and fruitful relationship. You are ready.  <\/p>\n<p>  <b>Reality: <\/b>Another year of drunk texting all the exes. Happy holidays!  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nothing can give you that warm and fuzzy feeling quite like the holiday season; decorations go up, radio stations play songs that remind you of your childhood, and you finally have an excuse to eat your body weight in cake and sugar.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":419965,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ai_generated_summary":"","_preview_accessed":0,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"media-embed-type":[],"class_list":["post-37348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-listomania"],"authorship":[102],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.9 (Yoast SEO v27.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Holidays in Lebanon: Expectation vs. Reality<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Nothing can give you that warm and fuzzy feeling quite like the holiday season; decorations go up, radio stations play songs that remind you of your childhood, and you finally have an excuse to eat your body weight in cake and sugar.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beirut.com\/en\/37348\/the-holidays-in-lebanon-expectation-vs-reality\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Holidays in Lebanon: Expectation vs. Reality\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Nothing can give you that warm and fuzzy feeling quite like the holiday season; decorations go up, radio stations play songs that remind you of your childhood, and you finally have an excuse to eat your body weight in cake and sugar.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beirut.com\/en\/37348\/the-holidays-in-lebanon-expectation-vs-reality\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Beirut.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/beirutcityguide\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-12-26T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beirut.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/37348.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"580\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"373\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@beirutcityguide\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@beirutcityguide\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.beirut.com\\\/en\\\/37348\\\/the-holidays-in-lebanon-expectation-vs-reality\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.beirut.com\\\/en\\\/37348\\\/the-holidays-in-lebanon-expectation-vs-reality\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"The Holidays in Lebanon: Expectation vs. Reality\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-12-26T00:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.beirut.com\\\/en\\\/37348\\\/the-holidays-in-lebanon-expectation-vs-reality\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":408,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.beirut.com\\\/ar\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.beirut.com\\\/en\\\/37348\\\/the-holidays-in-lebanon-expectation-vs-reality\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.beirut.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/04\\\/37348.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Listomania\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.beirut.com\\\/en\\\/37348\\\/the-holidays-in-lebanon-expectation-vs-reality\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.beirut.com\\\/en\\\/37348\\\/the-holidays-in-lebanon-expectation-vs-reality\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Holidays in Lebanon: Expectation vs. Reality\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.beirut.com\\\/ar\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.beirut.com\\\/en\\\/37348\\\/the-holidays-in-lebanon-expectation-vs-reality\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.beirut.com\\\/en\\\/37348\\\/the-holidays-in-lebanon-expectation-vs-reality\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.beirut.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/04\\\/37348.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-12-26T00:00:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"Nothing can give you that warm and fuzzy feeling quite like the holiday season; 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