THE ROMANIANS IN BEIRUT

This is the first of the stories I shot in Beirut in November last year, a day before president Emile Lahoud steped down from office. Lost of tension, of course.
My Romanians felt the tension and they were afraid the concert they had that week would have been cancelled due to the political crisis. Thre are about 50 Romanians in the Beirut Philarmonic Orchestra. They play every morning in St. Joseph Church in Monot street and I found them with a little help from the Cultural secretary of the Romanian Embassy in Beirut. I've been trying to call them forthe last few days, since the Hezbollah (yeah, again Hezbollah) has taken control of the western Beirut where all the nice places are. For some reason nobody is interested in this story in Romania. I can't understand why, given the fact that most of the world is carefully watching what's happening in Lebanon.

Oh, please, don't be harsh on the video. It was the first time I had to shoot my own footage and do the interviews at the same time. And it's the first video I edit alone, at home, on my laptop using Movie Maker. So, yeah, you professionals out there, be patient with me. It takes time to learn this stuff, ok? And it takes time to do the subtitles. So here's what they say.

The guy in the orange coat has been in Beirut since febriary last year and he's pretty happy there. There has been a bit of turmoil, but not as much as he expected.

The girl witht he glasses, the violonist, explains how she had to cancel her classes becasue of the SITUATION ad how scared she was to cross downtown Beirut on her way to Brumana, on the mountain, where she lives. She thanked God when she reached home a day before.

The red haired lady is a Romanian Armenian who's been in Lebanon for 37 years. She's been through the civil war, lived it as any Lebanese lived it and she says nothing impresses her anymore. She graduated the Conservatory in Romania and she left during Ceausescu's rule. Lebanon seemed better during the civil war to her than communist Romania.

PS. There will be a few more stories in the next days. Depending how much sleep I get after the nights I spend at work.