A you know what in Lebanon

My focus has drifted well away from learning Arabic, all my pals from my course have left, or are about to, apart from E, the North Korean, who intends on staying. I have regressed massively, I make little effort, and can't remember the word for goodbye (not M'salama, the other, just remembered that it's illeleka...still the word doesn't pop into my head and I say Istiraha, meaning break instead).

My focus has been on the MA stuff on teacher education, which was great, and a happy distraction from what may or may not have been happening here. Today I was introduced to this song on youtube, which sums things up quite nicely:

the lyrics are:

WHATEVER YOU SAY, SAY NOTHING

CHO: Whatever you say, say nothing when you talk about you-know-what.
For if you-know-who should hear ya, you know what you’d get
They take you all to you-know-where for you-wouldn’t-know-how-long,
So for you-know-whose sake don’t let anyone hear you singing this song.

You all know what I’m speaking of when I mention you-know-what,
And I fear it’s very dangerous to even mention that.
For the other ones are always near, although you may not see,
And if anyone asks who told you that, please don’t mention me. CHO.

You all know who I’m speaking of, when I mention you-know-who,
For if you-know-who should hear you, you know what he’d do.
So if you don’t see me again, you’ll know why I’m away,
And if anyone asks you where I’ve gone, here’s what you must say: CHO.

Wel,l that’s enough about so-and-so, not to mention such-and-such,
And I better end my song now. I’ve already said too much.
Well, the less you say, the less you hear, and the less you’ll go astray,
And the less you think, the less you do, and the more you’ll hear them say: CHO.

Video here

Needing a break from the you know what, we headed to Lebanon which was great. It was painless to do the shared taxi ride, though the drivers nearly came to blows for our custom. It was 2.5 hours door to door both ways. We stayed at the famous but not great Mayflower and Le Comodore (prestigious yet smelly). Beirut was crazy, felt very young, seemed hugely affluent, was certainly showy, a bit racist, and highly image consicous. Was great to have Sushi and beers.

We also stopped at Anfeh for a few days which was a lovely Mediterranean fishing village. We stayed with a nice family b& b. I got to swim. See beautiful water above :O)