Posted on Facebook Thursday, May 21, 2009 at 5:56am
Landed in Lebanon last night. Alain and I went to the airport Tuesday morning US Central time at 10:30 am. We had to fly from OKC to Denver, Denver to Chicago, Chicago to London, London to Beruit! We finally landed here in Lebanon (Lebanese local time) Thursday morning at midnight. Well, it was about 20 minutes till midnight, but midnight sounds better.
We were received with hugs and kisses from his mom and dad. We loaded up and came straight to their house. The airport was relatively slow, so there wasn't much hustle or hassle for us t get through the airport. I got my visa to visit, went and waited for our luggage. Luckily my one suitcase came through. All of Alain's luggage came except his golf-clubs. No biggie though. When we left the airport, I looked over to the (I think East) and saw these lights as high as the sky, and as wide as the horizon. I know this makes me sound really small town, but I was lost. I asked him "Shoo Hayda?" <--probably not spelled right, but I can pronounce it right; it means what's that. It's their mountain, and the street lights and house lights all across it. Very beautiful
This morning, we woke up and went to get traditional Lebanese breakfast. It was really good. Lebanese bread with, well, one with cheese, one with this herb, and the other with tomatoes, olives, mint leaves, and some kind of cottage cheese.
More to come. Today will be a slow day, because we both need to recover, and because Alain has been gone so long that it's very necessary for him to relax and be in his home atmosphere. It's always good to come home. Even if you do nothing other than sit and stare at the walls that you grew up in, it's still and always will be a feeling unlike any other.
Side note, and last thought on Lebanon for now. It is not a terrorist muslim country like portrayed on the news. Yes, there is the Hezbollah, but in the USA, we have the KKK and many many other hate groups that can be found. Imagine if this was the image of USA to the world. There are many Christians in this country. They are not an overrun and quiet minority of people. I've heard that in some middle eastern countries Christians are few and far between, and (as I was told) found in smaller groups. This is not the case in Lebanon. More to come on this as I further discover the culture, beauty, heritage, and people.
The government just turned off the electricity over here. It will be off until 6:00pm. Right now it is 2:00pm. The Feghalis have a generator though.
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Peace Corps
So I'm trying to finish my medical clearance so that I can make the September ship program that I've been nominated for, but I'm having some problems so far.
First issue:
I was expecting to leave next year between March and May of next year (2010), so I made many travel plans, and even had to cancel others. Some of my plans I will not cancel, (IE, Lebanon, road trip with Tony, and visiting friends in CO, Cali, and possibly Canada) but others I had to eliminate all-together. I was going to see Byrd in Japan, but I can't now. So the problem is that my last month of college was extremely busy, and I did not have time to work on my medical paperwork. I didn't even fully read through it until the week after finals. I finished my physical part, and need to get 17 different tests done (lipid panel, hiv, hepatitis, etc). My main point is that I have many many tests to do, and a very short period of time to complete them all. Keep in mind that I'm out of the country until the end of June. Peace Corps paperwork takes a good amount of time to process.
Second Issue:
I set up the tests, and went to the building to take them all the Friday before I left. As I spoke to the receptionist, I asked, "how much will all these cost?" She added it all up and it totaled $1200!! I told her I can't offord this. I have no insurance, just finished college, and really don't have $1,200 that I can just toss towards some tests that I'm doing so that I can volunteer (not make any money) for the next 3 yrs. I called their customer service and explained my situation (no insurance, no money, joining peace corps), to which the lady responded, "we can put you on a payment plan." Umm..think about this please, I said I'm joining the Peace Corps, which means no job, which means no money..what good will a payment plan do me? She gave me the number to their corporate office, thinking that they might give me a reduced rate or possibly test me for free. I call corporate and the refer me to the local office that I just spoke to. That did me no good at all.
So of these two major issues, the first one I can rush and get the tests done, but what about the money that is not going to magically appear from nowhere? How in this country can healthcare cost so much? I know if something major happened my family would all pull together but what if I didn't have money? What if there was nobody for me to fall back on in serious times of need? That would be an unnerving feeling to have. No family or safety net, mixed with a government that has set our people up to fail when it comes to medical expenses. Lovely right?
I'll figure it out one way or the other. I asked my medical contact with the Peace Corps, "what will happen if i don't get all my clearance done in time for my September program?" If that happens, I will still be nominated, and placed in the next open program, which would likely be 2 months after that. Wish me luck with it all.
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