Week 24 - Lebanon

We've been doing a lot of regrouping and getting organized this week, along with a little sightseeing. The kids are getting back into their regular lessons after Christmas break. Little C has started solving irregular square roots by hand, S has started long division without materials. They've been reading and writing in their journals each day all along, and learned a lot of history and geology in Jordan and Egypt. Big C flew back to the US on Wednesday, he's going to be looking at different options for continuing college since Antioch no longer is able to meet his academic needs. We were then able to reorganize the apartment, giving the two younger kids his room, setting up a dedicated school area and putting away Christmas decorations. Now we're much more organized. 

We all tested negative on our return from Egypt, so we're able to get out more again. Wednesday we took a long walk through downtown Beirut, past the Roman baths and down to the sea where we got some lunch. Yes, there's evidence of the depressed economy, but also people going about life and enjoying themselves. Being here is a demonstration of human resilience.

Thursday we went to the dentist to get our teeth cleaned. I love the feeling of a professional cleaning and being overdue was driving me nuts. I was glad to take advantage of being somewhere where we have local family members to recommend a dentist, plus it was another way to support the local economy. It was $80 per person, much less than what we pay at home, and we have receipts so we can submit to insurance when we get back, though who knows what they'll cover. The dentist did a great job, was really patient with S who always freaks out a little in new situations. He let him sit on my lap and watch the whole process, showed him how everything worked and let him "help" clean my teeth, then S was willing to sit on my lap and get his own teeth cleaned. The willingness to spend time letting S get comfortable made it a really nice experience. 

There were protests in the streets that day, so we didn't leave our immediate neighborhood; the dentist is only half a block away. Had we not seen the news, however, we never would have noticed anything. Not leaving the neighborhood is no hardship, I was still able to go to the grocery and pharmacy, all under a block away. 

Friday all was back to normal so we did our math and language in the morning and went to the Mim Museum in the afternoon.

This is a wonderful museum of rocks, minerals and fossils from all over the world. The kids, and J, loved it. We're looking forward to a few more days of family and relaxation, then heading to Kenya next week.