Friday, July 10, 2009
Well, since it's after midnight, it is now officially the day we depart for Lebanon. Naturally, all my plans to be packed in advance, leaving this last evening at home to relax before the 10,678 hour flight (or so it may seem by 2:40 a.m. Sunday morning when we arrive in Beirut) were for naught! Although most everything is in the luggage, there's still much to do before we hop in the airport limo at noon. I'm sure I'll continue to wander around the house moving little piles of things here and there before I'm exhausted enough to sleep.
Our journey begins on a Jet Blue flight from Tampa to JFK. We arrive at 5 p.m. and because this domestic leg of the trip, for some international trade reason, couldn't be booked from Yemen as part of our overall ticket, it is not a connecting flight. Yep, we'll have to claim our bags, schlep them to the international terminal, go through security again (agh), check in, then wait until our 2300 departure. Well, at least we have lots of time to kill and this should take care of a few hours! Apparently JFK was closed on Wed. for several hours due to turtles on the runway. Man, those terrapin terrorists will stop at nothing!
Next leg is the loooonng one - JFK to Dubai, UAE - about 14 hours. Oh if I only had the extra $9000 per person to upgrade to business class.....seriously, $9000!!!! I want to peek through the curtain to see who does have the $9K!
We arrive in Dubai at 1945 on Saturday evening - Dubai is 8 hours ahead of St. Petersburg - and get to explore the fabulous Dubai airport for a few hours. Apparently it has the largest Duty Free shop in the world - oh dear! We leave for Beirut at 0020 on Sunday, July 12, arriving at 0240, but we gain an hour, so it's really 0340 Dubai time. Our gracious hosts will be waiting at the airport, so we're hoping Charlie's strange collection of tools - including a major wire crimper that just barely fit in the suitcase - won't create a crisis in Customs. Would be interesting trying to explain that at 3 a.m. after flying for 2 days!
The drive to their home in the mountains is about 90 minutes, I know I won't be seeing much!!! My guess is by about Tuesday we might be coherent!
Thanks to all of you who responded to the blog, joined, sent comments and wished us well on our adventure. I'm looking forward to Tuesday!
Stay tuned!
Sending with love,
Lari
Friday, July 10, 2009
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Lebanon Adventure - Preparation
Sunday, July 5, 20009
We leave for Beirut on Friday and our prep for the 3 week adventure has been intense. Besides the research on Lebanon, flight arrangements, getting business and personal stuff taken care of, deciding what to pack, new camera, etc. I have also been trying to track down my grandparents' ancestry. Both came through Ellis Island, but their names were either misspelled or totally different than the names I knew them by as a child.....hmmmmmm. Fortunately, my first cousins, Eleanor and Ann Marie had documents that helped us get to the first steps and we found the ships and dates they both arrived. But that's as far as I've gotten, as we don't have any documentation on where they lived in Lebanon (which was Syria back then). I've tried Ancestry.com but couldn't find anything there past my grandparents. Anyone have any suggestions? I'd love to visit the towns or villages where they were born, but doubt that after more than 100 years, I could begin to track down any family ties in Lebanon. But, you never know.
Since this is my first post, it's really a test to see if I know what I'm doing. If you decide to accept my invitation to the blog, I'll be thrilled. Not sure of the internet access where we are staying, as it is in the mountains, about 45 minutes from Beirut (near Faraya and Farqa if you Google Earth it), but I'll keep writing anyway!
Love to all,
Lari
We leave for Beirut on Friday and our prep for the 3 week adventure has been intense. Besides the research on Lebanon, flight arrangements, getting business and personal stuff taken care of, deciding what to pack, new camera, etc. I have also been trying to track down my grandparents' ancestry. Both came through Ellis Island, but their names were either misspelled or totally different than the names I knew them by as a child.....hmmmmmm. Fortunately, my first cousins, Eleanor and Ann Marie had documents that helped us get to the first steps and we found the ships and dates they both arrived. But that's as far as I've gotten, as we don't have any documentation on where they lived in Lebanon (which was Syria back then). I've tried Ancestry.com but couldn't find anything there past my grandparents. Anyone have any suggestions? I'd love to visit the towns or villages where they were born, but doubt that after more than 100 years, I could begin to track down any family ties in Lebanon. But, you never know.
Since this is my first post, it's really a test to see if I know what I'm doing. If you decide to accept my invitation to the blog, I'll be thrilled. Not sure of the internet access where we are staying, as it is in the mountains, about 45 minutes from Beirut (near Faraya and Farqa if you Google Earth it), but I'll keep writing anyway!
Love to all,
Lari
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