Holy Pope, Batman!

You might have heard that the Pope is visiting Beirut this weekend. I am excited and a little worried. Why would the Pope come here at this time, with everything that is going on? It's not exactly safe here. I understand the symbolism of it all; faith, trust and peace, and I admire his purpose and effort very much (seems he never considered cancelling his visit), but someone just set fire to a KFC restaurant in Tripoli, and Syria is just a couple of bus stops down the road. Not the safest place at the moment.

A lot of streets are blocked off, which means other streets are completely jammed, and the city is both more calm and more chaotic at the same time.

Yesterday when we were returning from our shopping, we got stopped at an intersection by some very serious looking military. Military in the street, or anywhere really, is a normal sight here, but the traffic military – or whatever they are – usually joke with the bikers or drivers and are more laid back. These men meant business. One of them was using a walkie talkie, and we were sitting there at a red light that turned green and then red, and then green again, but he was still not letting us go. Then we saw it: a huge convoy approaching from our right at a very high speed. Four military vans and two black official looking cars with dark windows. As they blew past us, almost on two wheels through the curve, I noticed a little golden yellow and white flag. His holiness. Welcome in Lebanon. May God watch over you and keep you safe.