Today I am happy.
(Alert: cheesy post)
I'm not usually the person who would talk about how proud she is for being Lebanese, or about how great of a country Lebanon is- I'd usually be the one dreaming about 'upgrading' or leaving (Check: Lebanon: The Controversy). But not today- the spirit was so nice, and I think people need that. Some might say that "we should stop pretending that everything is alright on Independence day" (I read a blog post by someone about it), but I think people- especially the younger kids- need that sense of affiliation to their country; they need to hold the Lebanese flag and feel proud, even if it's only for this one day. The truth is that the country is not in it's best conditions, and people, children even, talk about this, about the problems and troubles; the indifferent government... Because that is what they were born to; and it's good to do something else for a change rather than talk about all the problems and the bombing that killed 25 people the other day and the organ trade that happened last week....
I was genuinely happy today. It's activities like this that make that weird and odd sense of pride or happiness or whatever it is wash over me (other activities include watching folklore shows).
(And I wish I had a video to share, because the harmony in which the scout-boys were playing in is crazy!)
If you've never heard the Lebanese anthem, then listen to it! :)
(Alert: cheesy post)
Before we went into our classes this morning, our principal told us that we will learn until the third period, before we all go for a "march" in celebration of Independence Day (which was yesterday- and there was real "marching"). So, at 10:30, instead of having recess, we all stood in lines, and the smaller students were holding flags and had little little ones painted on their faces; some were even wearing army uniforms! (apparently the whole school knew about this except us). And we went, the "Kashaf" (scouts) in front of us, playing their drums.
I'm not usually the person who would talk about how proud she is for being Lebanese, or about how great of a country Lebanon is- I'd usually be the one dreaming about 'upgrading' or leaving (Check: Lebanon: The Controversy). But not today- the spirit was so nice, and I think people need that. Some might say that "we should stop pretending that everything is alright on Independence day" (I read a blog post by someone about it), but I think people- especially the younger kids- need that sense of affiliation to their country; they need to hold the Lebanese flag and feel proud, even if it's only for this one day. The truth is that the country is not in it's best conditions, and people, children even, talk about this, about the problems and troubles; the indifferent government... Because that is what they were born to; and it's good to do something else for a change rather than talk about all the problems and the bombing that killed 25 people the other day and the organ trade that happened last week....
I was genuinely happy today. It's activities like this that make that weird and odd sense of pride or happiness or whatever it is wash over me (other activities include watching folklore shows).
(And I wish I had a video to share, because the harmony in which the scout-boys were playing in is crazy!)
If you've never heard the Lebanese anthem, then listen to it! :)
Happy Independence Day- and hopefully the coming days will be better for this country and it's people. :]
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Pictures are not mine; credit to الكشاف المسلم فوج كامد اللوز
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Pictures are not mine; credit to الكشاف المسلم فوج كامد اللوز
