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In the mist
Yes, still in that northern region of the Beqaa Valley. So we are driving around, and suddenly in the mist, we see all these shapes popping up all over the plain. The area around el Qaa is teeming with ancient mud dwellings.

It is Sunday, and I am doing my banking online. 'Online' banking needs some explanation here. It isn't really that 'online'. For most transactions you still need to pass by the bank in person to get permission to do what you want to do online.
I want to transfer some Lebanese pounds to my Euro account. I get an error message. I try again. Same message. I call the help center of the bank.

“Oh, but you cannot transfer Lebanese pounds to Euros. Only Lebanese pounds to dollars,” says the man on the other side of the line.
Oh really? Well, how about the other 10 times when I was able to do it?
Silence.
“Maybe because it is Sunday. There are no rates.”

Maybe. Maybe not. That was helpful. Not.

There’s this book, 'Travels with Charlie’  where the author John Steinbeck travels the back roads of America and writes about what he sees. I was inspired by that title. You see, my hubbie works some 360 days a year. But sometimes, he decides to take a break. And if you manage to direct him onto the road, you get to see stuff. Lots of stuff, because hubbie doesn’t like things half done. And so we roamed over the northern part of the Beqaa last week.

Feraya slopes