Beirut is a wonderful city and this is one of the reasons I love it: people intimately know their neighborhoods. Every night coming home from the bars we would

Beirut is a wonderful city and this is one of the reasons I love it: people intimately know their neighborhoods. Every night coming home from the bars we would pass the same aging Christian militia guy sitting in a lawnchair at 3 AM, watching his street in Gemmayzeh and reporting whatever he saw. It's one of the reasons I felt so safe in Beirut... your neighbors know just about anything that goes on almost immediately. A Sunni friend told me about a French colleague who had his house robbed in broad daylight in France: the thieves backed a moving truck up to the house, loaded his possessions into the truck, and drove away. His neighbors assumed he was moving and simply hadn't told them. He joked that this would be impossible in Lebanon -- neighbors would descend on the truck asking who the movers were, where the family was moving, asking the movers who their cousins were, inviting them in for tea, etc. Beirut is an amazing place and I was deeply touched by its beauty and the kindness of the Lebanese people. If any tech startups in Beirut are looking for web app consulting, get in touch -- I want to go back and stay longer!