THIS IS NOT NEW, BUT...

The Lebanese complain they have been called by alleged Israelis inviting them to access a website that promises 10 million dollar reward for anybody who might have information on the fate of 5 Israeli soldiers missing in battle. One of the is Ron Arad, the Israeli pilot of Romanian origin who was shot down at the beginning of the '80s.

One editor for The Daily Star and three Associated Press staffers were among those who received the calls on their mobile telephones Thursday. A foundation spokeswoman refused to say if it was behind the calls.
Last month, similar messages in Lebanon criticized Hizbullah's leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and prompted Lebanese outrage over what some officials said was the Jewish state's tampering with Lebanon's telecommunications system.
Lebanese Telecommunications Minister Jebran Bassil said last month that he wrote a letter of protest to United Nations chief Ban Ki Moon protesting over the messages, calling them a violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the summer 2006 war with Israel, Daily Strar reports.

PREPARATIONS FOR A NEW WAR?

It may seem unlikely that Hezbollah might get ready to attack Israel. But they seem also serious about it. Since i got the Internet connection, crappy but still a connection that works from time to time, even if it throws me out often, I'm getting in touch with what the local press writes and what the agenda is here. I found two news stories on two diferent outlets today. One is on Now Lebanon :

The Italian daily Corriere Della Sera on Friday reported that Hezbollah officials visited Russia in early July and struck a deal whereby Moscow would supply the party with anti-missile systems and anti-tank missiles.
The newspaper reported that three high-ranking Hezbollah officials showed great interest in buying Russian weapons that had proved effective in the recent war with Israel.
The three officials, the paper added, entered Russia on Iranian passports and visited “Expo 2008,” an exhibit of military technology and ammunition, in the region of Sverdlosk from July 9 to July 12, 2008.

The other was on Naharnet:

Hizbullah to Israel: Expect Huge Surprises Soon
Hizbullah threatened "earth shattering" retaliation against Israel which the group accuses of killing its top commander Imad Mughniyeh in a car bombing in Damascus last February."Retaliation is coming soon," Hizbullah official in south Lebanon Sheikh Ahmad Mrad said in remarks published by the daily Al Akhbar on Friday. "Retaliation is going to be earth shattering and there will be huge surprises," he vowed. "Resistance weapons will stay in the hands of Hizbullah until Palestine is liberated," Mrad pledged. He declared that Hizbullah would go deep into Palestine and vowed that "Israel will no longer exist on the map."

I might go to the South next week. It depends if we get permission or not to film in Bint Jbeil and a few other villages. It takes time for them to verify me and Antena 3 too. It shouldn't be difficult. I've got nothing to hide. :)
One of my friends is trying to find one or two Romanian doctors working in hospitals in the south. And it also depends on renting a car for one or two days. But we might just make it.

ANA HAS INTERNET. ANA VERY HAPPY

:o)
Finally. I am back in business. Now I can say what everybody says - you're not alive anymore without Internet. The ISP guy came and set the antenna on my building today. Cute little guy, very shy, didn't speak English so I had to gather my French from the back of my mind.
I told him I was from Hungary. :) Well, yeah, of course, most of you wouldn't agree with that. But I've been warned that Romanian girls here usually work in night clubs or super night clubs and of course do not have a very nice reputation.
I paid 200 dollars for the nternet connection. 165 the installation of the antenna and the wires, and 33 the subscription. That's quite a lot. And it's not even the fastest one. I asked why it was so expensive. And the guy answered in French: "Parce que vous etes en Liban."
Here's an explanation I hear often. The reason it was so expensive is that I had to pay for the whole building to get the antenna. But it's not like I had a choice. There are not many people living in this building. There's me, then the girl living at the third floor whose boyfriend's name is Mario ( i know this cause they had a fight yesterday, the guy slammed the door and left and she was at the window crying and shouting "Mario, Mario"), then there is my landlord's father who's almost 90 and then there is the office of the doctor wityh the Romanian wife. So who else is gonna have internet here.
Well, I hope it's gonna be worth it and I'll turn up with lots of reports. Everybody's telling me that I'm gonna get busy very soon. looking forward to that.

REACHED THE DESTINATION: BEIRUT

Now that I made everybody relax and told them I am ok and nothing happened to me yesterday (other than a trip to Byblos with the Lebanese bus on a 50 degrees Celsius day ) I can write about my first day here.

The road here was tiresome, cause I had to wait in the Budapest airport a lot. My butt and back were sore from sitting. Thank God I had the laptop with me and bought that wireless adaptor on saturday morning. I chatted, I read, and then i read again, and i fell asleep on the way from Budapest to Beirut. I arrived at 3 30 in the morning, and i had to stand in a line for an hour or so to have my passport checked.

This time it was the children's flight. Soooo many children. Like 20 babies in the plane. Last time i came o beirut I ended up sitting with a whole family of arabs, the women wearing hijabs. And the stewardess in the plane didn't serve me dinner cause she thought i was with them. Bitch!

Well, Beirut is hot. I've never been here in the summer. And the heat is killing me. The humidity too. You get sweaty in an instant. I never used the hot water in the shower and i'm sneezing. The trip to Byblos yesterday was depressing. The service, the share a ride taxis that everybody uses here because of the lack of public transportation, cost like 2000 Lebanese Pounds a ride (1 euro). And I'll have to take a service everymorning to go to the bus station near the City Mall or Nahr El Mot area (try to say it for a change, it makes people laugh when i say it) where i can get the bus to Byblos. The way to Nahr El Mot would cost me 4000 Lebanese Pounds, 2 euro, because it's very far from my place in Ashrafieh. The bus to Byblos is 1500 LL, one dollar. And then another 2000 LL for the service from Byblos to the Lebanese American University where I am to study for the next two years. Then the way back. Around 10 dollars a day. Then the bus. That's a whole story. They drive with the doors open because of the heat, you might get to sit next to a sweaty smelly drunk man and they're usually very talkative. No AC, crappy cars, dirty benches. I miss the subway and the trains inn Romania. They are much cleaner, as unbelievable as it may seem! No train here. They used to have trains long time ago. But they stopped. The explanation for that : you know, Ana, this is Lebanon! Ok, I'll need to work my ass off to get a car very soon. It's full of old Beetles here. And I will probably get one of those.

Apart from the transportation and weather problem, everything seems to be fine. My apartment is great. Thank you, Ben, for telling me about it. And thank you, Bassem, for taking care of it for me. It's in Ashrafieh, quite close to the center, it has a huge veranda, more or less of a view and no nosy neighbors. And a book shop downstairs. And a dentis's cabinet on the first floor whose wife is Romanian.

So tonight I'll get my own Lebanese number. Celebration needed. So tomorrow I'll be able to call people around and have meetings and do the stories I wanna do. :) Well, thank you Bassem, again. A SIM card here is more or less 100 $. I was amazed too. He got mine for 60 $. I really need to buy this guy a present. A big present.

FROM BUCHAREST TO BEIRUT

This is it. I'm moving tomorrow. With 35 kilos of clothes, a few books, 5 pairs of shoes, a camera, a tripod and a laptop. On Sunday at 3.20 I'm gonna be in Beirut again. This time for quite a while. I'm gonna go to school to the Lebanese American University for the next two years and I'm gonna try to make a living by shooting news for Antena1 and Antena3. It's gonna be a whole different life, but I wanted the change so I'm happy to have made it.

Tomorrow I'll be for 7 hours in Budapest, cause I chose not to book a direct flight. It seems Malev, The Hungarian airlines, is much less expensive than Tarom, the Romanian Airlines. The fuel prices didn't seem to reach Hungary as they had and effect in Romania. I remember I went to Beirut in November 2007 for like 500 EUR. Now they charge you 500 EUR for just an one way ticket. Now you have to pay almost 1000 EUR for a return ticket. Pretty big difference. Malev on the other hand, charged me 360 EUR, one way.

Fortunately, I'll be going to a nice apartment in Ashrafieh, a two bedroom apartment, with a nice living room, and a huge balcony. 500 $ a month. Or around 300 EUR. Not much compared to Romania, where you'd pay at least the double for the same flat.

I'll be out of the internet for a few days until I meet the owners of the apartment and convince them I have to have Internet there. Other than that they have everything else in that house. I was very happy with it when I finally got it.

Well, that's that. I'm off tomorrow at 4 pm.