Farah. Once upon a time Farah was pretty in a natural way. Her nose wasn’t as petite as it is now, but it was the right nose for her face. Her hair wasn’t platinum sleek, it was light-ish brown with a slight wave to it. Her breasts did not pop out of most of her shirts, they were proportional. Her skin wasn’t a burnt orange tint, she was fair. Farah chose to alter her look, to conform to some strange prototype we have managed to aspire to look like in Lebanon. For her it was a fruitful change. A considerable group of men are loving it, as they watch Farah get in her black Mercedes C 200 they whistle, blow kisses, and even yell out their phone numbers. Farah acts oblivious but inside, she is excited, overcome with a sense of achievement. She’ll only respond to the admirer with the Pimp-est car.
Tamer is a walking hazard, with all the gel and wax on his hair, he may catch on fire. He spends most of his time pumping iron at the gym, counting his muscles, and oiling his pectorals. The highlight of his day involves getting checked out by some random girl while lifting some weights. Today it happens to be Farah. He’ll walk right up to her point out her problem areas and tell her what moves/machines she needs to be working on instead. If she shows potential (and willingness) he’ll then take her out for some grilled chicken.
Tamer will then invite Farah out to a cheesy club, one-man-show style. She’ll dress like a stripper and he’ll put his chest hair on display. She’ll shoot death looks at all of Tamer’s lady friends and he’ll start a fist fight with Farah’s ex-boyfriend who just waived at her. She’ll love the way he fought for her honor and will reward him by losing it for the night.
When Tamer wakes up the next day and realizes how easy Farah was, he’ll loose interest and never call her back. Her friends will tell her it’s his loss, and somewhere else in Beirut, another Farah and another Tamer will be hooking up.
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I really like your blog. It’s listed in my favourites. But I must say, lately, I’m finding your posts to be repetitive and always always about the negative aspects of living in Beirut.
Ok everyone in this city is fake and phony, we got it. Can’t you write a positive post for a change? About a different topic?
After all if you’re so unhappy with the life in this city, no one is forcing you to stay.
And that Farah is NOT me! 😛
“tamer’s hair might catch on fire because of all the gel and wax” that cracked me up!
Amazing writing skills Ivy! Keep it up!
Hey Ivy,
I disagree with anonymous. You criticize this city and its shallow inhabitants in a very light and pleasant way, your style is very easy to read and you are pointing out real characters that we encounter in our everyday’s life. Keep it up!
Oh and also I miss your cooking articles!
First of all Anonymous,Ivy, and Linda Kh just to let you know everyone is shallow somehow ,even people who are not easy ,but some people are shallow in a vulgar way like the Tamer and Farah you described in your post ,but let me tell you everyone is shallow and materialistic in our culture,this is what they introduce from the moment you take your first steps,nobody cares anymore about old glam ,charm and love especially in Lebanon, and every girl I know compares herself to the next Orange Blondie look alike
this is not typical behaviour in beirut i am sorry. only a few are like that i suspect. the thing is they are quite visible (that is they make themselves visible, especially at night and on the beach and we end believing they are everywhere).
I agree with Anonymous I!
i don’t totally agree with the anonymouses, but they’re right on that you focus alot on the negative in people.
All U haters are just hating because IVY is calling U all out! hahahaha GOOOOOO IVYYYYYYYYYY UR HOTTTTTT
This could be a story set in Miami! Same shit, different city. Whatever compels to behave like that, alternate their appearance only to be accepted by others. Anyway, as long as their happy..go right ahead I say! Different strokes for different folks!
who have you been hanging out with???