Lebanese 15th Blogger Meetup

Since everyone else is busy making reports for books they haven’t read yet and work they haven’t even started, I volunteered a few minutes of my own precious time to write about Friday’s 15th Lebanese blogger meeting.
Venue: Mandarine, Verdun (orange color coincidental). Date & Time: December 8, 2006 @ 7.30 p.m.
Who arrived on time? Eve, Jamal, and yours truly, followed shortly by newcomer Failasoof.
Who arrived fashionably late à la libanaise? All the others.



After asking for the menu and waiting more than 15 minutes for it, Ana Min Beirut worked his charm on the waiter who happens to share the same name with him, and our menus appeared as if by magic. Among splashes of vodka/orange (also coincidental), San Pellegrino, Diet Pepsi, and beer, and bites of good food, the conversation revolved around many interesting topics, such as creating a Spanish blog in Lebanon (si quereis realmente hacerlo, estoy disponible!), making falafel from scratch in New Jersey, and living in Ghana.



The military parade outside was rivaled only by the fashion show inside. Service was extremely bad, but we felt so guilty for squatting the place for three hours that we left a generous tip and a huge smile for our waiter.
The bloggers present were: Eve, Doha, Delirious, Jamal, Faylasoof, Nobolis Tobilis, N10452, Bob, Ana Min Beirut, and Mustapha (accompanied by his charming wife). We also had an external guest (i.e. not a blogger) who felt right at home with the rest of the bunch and participated in the political discussions and heated debates. Because, lest I forget… there was some talk about politics, as you can see from the video below.