How to live in Lebanon. Russian wives of Lebanese husbands: what makes them go to the Middle East

“When we first moved here, there was a war going on. There were barricades on the streets of Beirut, sometimes snipers shot at passers-by. In general, it was quiet, but sometimes shootings broke out completely unexpectedly here and there. The last year of the war was especially brutal, there were many terrorist attacks. "There wasn't a single garbage container left on the streets - they were constantly mined, and eventually liquidated as a class. If a parked car stood without a driver for more than 2-3 minutes, it automatically aroused suspicion and could be towed."

Olga Dager came to Lebanon in 1986, following her husband, who studied with her in the same course at the Leningrad Medical Institute. His four brothers also studied in Leningrad, all became candidates of science, all returned home - and not alone. Olga’s large Lebanese family also includes two daughters-in-law from Russia. Today she heads the Russian women's club and the coordination council of compatriots in Lebanon.

“After arriving, I confirmed my diploma and got a job as an anesthesiologist in a hospital, sometimes I didn’t see my husband for several days. Once, it was while I was on duty that the car of President Rene Mouawad, who ruled the country for only 17 days, exploded near the hospital. A huge number of people were injured, in the emergency room the floor was slippery with blood."

No one counted for sure, but several thousand Russian-Lebanese families live in a tiny country with a population of 3 million. In the vast majority of cases, we are talking about Russian wives of Lebanese husbands. It is almost impossible for a foreigner who marries a Lebanese woman to become legalized. But it is easy for foreign women married to Lebanese to obtain citizenship, get a job, and receive benefits.

In comparison with local women, Russians stand out not only for their light skin, but also for their modesty, thriftiness, unpretentiousness and the universal presence of higher education, which is given great importance in Lebanon.

Recalling the first six months spent in the Lebanese village with her husband’s parents and brothers, Olga says that she has never been so cold anywhere. It was winter, and only a few rooms in the large house were heated by stoves. We slept at a temperature of +8 degrees.

The lack of external warmth was compensated for by internal warmth: according to Olga, Lebanese husbands are generally gallant, pay a lot of attention to their family, practically do not drink alcohol and are often brought up in secular traditions.

Olga’s husband is a Shiite Muslim; many in his family do not eat pork or drink alcohol; some have performed Hajj. But the women in this family do not cover their heads with headscarves and wear European clothes. Religion is perceived more as a tribute to tradition. At the same time, in Lebanon there are often cases when Russian women convert to Islam, observe all norms and prohibitions, study the Koran - as stated, absolutely voluntarily.

There are 18 officially recognized religious denominations in Lebanon. Olga says that a marriage concluded according to a religious rite has more weight than a civil one - that is, confirmed by the state. All Islamic faiths freely allow divorce, and local Catholicism is considered one of the most conservative. So sometimes Catholics convert to Islam in order to get a divorce. At the same time, many “unchurched” Lebanese prefer to register marriages in neighboring Cyprus, with its absolutely secular and customary family code.

© Photo courtesy of the organizers of the festival “Five Years in Five Days”/Anna TemerinaParticipants of the festival "Five Years in Five Days" in Lebanon

© Photo courtesy of the organizers of the festival “Five Years in Five Days”/Anna Temerina

Children in Russian-Lebanese families often speak 4 languages ​​- Arabic, English, French and Russian, which they communicate at home and which can always be studied at the Russian Cultural Center in Beirut.

Today, according to Olga, no fewer Russian wives travel to Lebanon than before, and maybe even more. Nowadays people meet mostly on the Internet. In such families, they mostly speak English among themselves; the children know the language of their ancestors less well. But satellite channels and the Internet make you feel not too far from Russia: young people here also watch TNT and adore Danila Kozlovsky.

On March 8, husbands bring flowers home, although in Lebanon this holiday is not usually celebrated; Mother’s Day, March 21, is much more popular here. On the May holidays, Russian-Lebanese families go to barbecues, and on May 9 they remember veterans: the Lebanese “Immortal Regiment” action was the first in the Middle East. Amateur performances are organized for the Old New Year. The "Immortal Regiment" marched through the Lebanese capitalThe St. George's Ribbon campaign has been taking place in Lebanon since April 23. Members of the youth organization CARIL distributed ribbons at the Islamic University and the Lebanese State University. On May 9, lectures are planned to be held in a number of educational institutions.

Stories with a less happy ending also happen, then, in addition to the Russian women's club, the situation can be resolved with the help of the police or human rights non-profit organizations: one call - and a woman, regardless of her nationality and religion, will be taken to a safe place that neither her husband will know about, no relatives - only one trusted person. The Russian diplomatic mission is also helping through its own channels. But these are the most extreme cases, of which there are few here.

Every year at conferences, Olga Dager meets with her colleagues from the countries of the former Soviet Union living in the Middle East and Africa. She says that there are Russian women even in Botswana, and in Lebanon there is at least one in every village. There are many of them in Tunisia and Egypt, and until recently there were many in neighboring Syria. “There are no Russian wives except in Antarctica,” she smiles. “But this is the territory of husbands!”

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In 2011, I married a Lebanese man and moved to live in the Zekrit district of the Lebanese province of Matn.

Oksana Yushko

lives in Lebanon

My husband and I don't have children, so I still don't have a Lebanese passport. Lack of citizenship does not give me the right to officially work, so I enjoy the sun and beaches and help my husband run his business.

Visa and citizenship

Before I got married, I came to Lebanon many times on a tourist visa. Russians are given it right at the airport for three months. Once, at the Lebanese Embassy in Moscow, I requested a tourist visa for a period of six months, and there were no problems obtaining it.

In Lebanon there is no state registration of marriage, only a wedding in a church if you are a Christian. The cost of a wedding starts from $2,000 (124,000 R) and goes up to $5,000 (310,000 R). Each church sets its own price depending on the size and interior decoration. But many Lebanese, even very religious ones, get married in neighboring Cyprus because it is cheaper. We also got married in Cyprus.

2000 $

It's worth getting married in a church in Lebanon. There is no state registration of marriage

After my marriage, I received permission to stay in Lebanon - “ikama”. It must be renewed every 3 years, otherwise you may receive a fine of $200 (RUR 12,400). To renew the ikama costs $16 (1000 RUR).

Even with a marriage registration certificate, obtaining an iqama was not easy. I was called to the migration service several times and asked the same questions. Service employees even came to my husband’s parents’ home to check if I really lived there. Such a strict check is carried out because in Lebanon there are a lot of fictitious marriages: girls come from the CIS countries and then engage in prostitution here.

To receive the iqama, I signed a document in which I pledged not to work or engage in volunteer activities. Such restrictions are again associated with a large number of refugees and fictitious marriages. It is believed that a Lebanese wife must prove that she came to Lebanon for her husband and not for work.

After the issuance of a residence permit in Lebanon, the migration service continues to periodically check immigrants. If it turns out that the wife of a stateless Lebanese man is working, she could be deported. You can get a work residence permit - you don’t have to get married for this, but you need a contract with an employer.

16 $

It is worth extending the iqama - a residence permit in Lebanon

I will have the opportunity to work when I receive citizenship. To do this, you need to live in the country for at least three years and give birth to a child. My husband and I are not planning children yet, so I just continue to renew the residence permit that I have now.

With an Ikame and a Russian passport, I can easily obtain long-term visas to almost all countries of the world, including the USA.

Martial law

Lebanon has been at war with neighboring Israel for many years. The news constantly talks about provocations on the Israeli-Lebanese border. But I can’t say that this has any impact on the daily lives of ordinary Lebanese. They don’t go to Israel, because with an Israeli stamp in their passport they won’t be allowed back into Lebanon.

There are a lot of military men on the streets - this was the case 9 years ago, when I came here for the first time. There are outposts with booths and barricades set up near the embassies, and I sometimes see military equipment on the streets. You are not allowed to photograph military personnel or outposts.

I don’t feel that there is a war going on in neighboring Syria; Lebanon is calm. Yes, there are many Syrian refugees in the country, but many of them came here before the war, because the standard of living in Lebanon has always been higher. Many wealthy Syrian families have long since moved to Lebanon and settled well here.

Language and communication

The main language in Lebanon is Arabic, but everyone speaks a wild mixture of Arabic, French and English. One can often hear a typical Lebanese phrase: “Hai, kifak, sawa?”, which means: “Hello, how are you? Fine?". “Hai” is “hello” in English, “kifak” is “how are you?” in Arabic, and "sawa" means "good" in French.

It’s quite easy to live without Arabic in Lebanon. Everyone here speaks English - even the cleaner will understand you. Another common language is French, because Lebanon was a colony of France for a long time. Lebanese Christians most often attend French schools and therefore speak good French, but may not know English at all. Lebanese Muslims, on the contrary, are much more likely to speak English well and French poorly.

Lebanon, Qatar, Kuwait, Morocco and other Middle Eastern countries have the same official language - Arabic. But there is a nuance: Arabic is divided into literary and colloquial. In fact, these are two different languages.

90%

I can easily understand spoken Arabic. I can speak too, but I can’t write or read Arabic.

Literary, or classical, Arabic is the same language in all these countries. The Koran was written on it in the 7th century, and since then the language has not changed much. Books and newspapers are printed in classical Arabic, official documents are published, spoken on radio and television, and taught in schools and universities. It’s like the literary Russian language from the novels of Pushkin and Tolstoy - educated people know it, but no one speaks it like that on the street.

Therefore, each country speaks its own dialect - this is spoken Arabic. For foreigners studying Arabic, this is a big problem, because before the trip they learn literary Arabic, and when they arrive in the country, they are horrified to realize that the locals speak some other language.

When I first moved to Lebanon, I started studying Arabic with a teacher. Now I understand about 90% of spoken language, but I still can’t write or read literary Arabic.

Corruption and elections

Lebanon has a very high level of corruption. In the ranking of corruption in countries around the world, Lebanon ranks 143rd, while the most corrupt state, Somalia, is 175th.

Recently there were parliamentary elections in Lebanon. Many votes were bought - they talked about it in the streets and wrote in the press. Interested parties even paid for the flights of Lebanese living outside the country so that they would vote for the desired candidate. Many emigrant Lebanese are specifically waiting for the elections in order to fly home for free: according to unofficial data, a party can pay $500 (31,000 R) for a vote for the desired candidate and pay for air tickets.

Voting takes place by district - you can only choose from those candidates who are on the list for your district. In this case, the district is determined not by the place of registration, but by the place of birth of the father, so the entire family is usually tied to one district, regardless of place of residence. If you don’t like any of the candidates in the area, and you can’t vote for another, the family accepts an offer from some party, votes for the desired candidate and receives money.

This year, the day before the elections, all shops and cafes were closed, and after the elections they even announced a curfew - they were afraid of unrest.

Money, salaries and taxes

Lebanon has two official currencies: American dollars and Lebanese lira, also called pounds in English. You can pay with both. Change in the store may be mixed.

450 $

official minimum wage in Lebanon

The lira to dollar exchange rate is stable and has not changed for the last 20 years - 1,500 lira to 1 dollar. To avoid confusion, I will write all prices in dollars.

The average income of an employee in Lebanon does not exceed $1,000 (R62,000) per month. The official minimum salary is $450 (27,900 R), a beginning manager can receive $600 (37,200 R). Working in a bank is considered prestigious, where you can earn up to $2,500 (RUR 155,000). Salaries are usually paid in cash - I have never heard of anyone receiving money on a card. This is due to the fact that many receive their salaries unofficially.

The tax system in Lebanon is progressive: the higher the salary, the higher the tax rate, the maximum being 20%. There are tax deductions, they depend on the number of children in the family and whether the spouse works.

Let’s imagine that there are two children in a family, the wife does not work, and the husband receives $1,300 (80,600 R) per month - that’s $15,600 (967,000 R) per year. For such a family, a fixed tax deduction is established - $7,333 (473,790 RUR). If the wife worked, the deduction would be less - $5,666 (366,084 R).

On the remaining $8,267, this family must pay 4% tax per year. In addition to the tax deduction, for each income level there is also a downward adjustment, in this case - $80.

20%

maximum personal income tax rate. The tax system in Lebanon is progressive: the more you earn, the higher the tax

As a result, the family will pay $8,267 × 4% − $80 = $250 in taxes per year.

If the family earned less than $1,100 per month, the tax would be even less - 2%. The maximum possible tax is 20%, paid by those who earn more than $80,000 per year.

Pensions

There are no pensions in Lebanon. There is a lump sum payment that both men and women receive at age 64. You can retire earlier, but then the payment will be less. There are no other monthly or annual benefits for pensioners - people live on savings, rent out real estate, or ask their children for help.

The size of the lump sum pension payment depends on the salary at the last place of work and length of service. To put it very roughly: how many years you work, how many months you get paid. For example, a Lebanese who has worked for 40 years will receive 40 months of full last salary. This is the maximum payout amount. If a person has worked for less than 5 years, for example 4 years, he will receive 4 salaries, each of which will be equal to only half of the last salary.

While a person is working, the employer contributes 21.5% of his salary to a special fund every month. This fund is called "daman". The system is designed in such a way that if an employee has worked for a company for more than 21 years, then upon retirement the company must also pay him an additional one-time benefit equal to almost all contributions for these 21 years.

Housekeepers are selected by special agencies. Bringing a maid from the Philippines costs $2,500 (RUR 155,000), this amount includes transportation costs and paperwork. The salary of a housekeeper is $200-300 (RUR 12,400 -18,600) per month; in addition, the owners must provide her with food and medical care. Housekeepers are required to have a separate room with their own bathroom. They rarely fly home or on vacation - it all depends on the relationship with the owners.

Instead of a housekeeper, a cleaning lady comes to us once a month. An hour of her work costs $5 (310 R), but you can find it cheaper.

Garbage

Lebanon has a garbage problem. There are no waste recycling plants in the country. For a long time, all the garbage was stored at one landfill in the center of the country. Two years ago, numerous rallies and protests against landfills took place in Lebanon, and then the garbage was removed.

But now landfills are again appearing in different areas, from where garbage is blown around the area by the wind. He is everywhere, on every street and along every road. There are rumors that the garbage will be sold to other countries for recycling, but so far nothing has changed.

Internet and mobile communications

Home internet in Lebanon is very slow. The country's fiber optics are old and broadband access is rare. Videos on Instagram are almost impossible to watch.

At home we have satellite Internet: for a speed of 2 Mbit/s and 28 GB of traffic we pay $30 (1860 R) per month. Most cafes have Wi-Fi, but it is weak.

There are two mobile operators in Lebanon - Alpha and Touch. Both have very high prices. For example, a minute of conversation during the day costs about $0.25 (15.5 R). My husband and I have a Touch operator. My husband spends about $70 (4,340 RUR) a month on calls. Many Lebanese even try to conduct business conversations through WhatsApp.

100 $

per month will be spent on calls and mobile Internet in Lebanon, if you call often

I rarely call and spend about $20 (1240 R) per month on communications. For 500 MB of 4G traffic I pay 10 $ (620 RUR).

In addition to calls, internet and SMS, you need to pay for using a SIM card. This is analogous to a subscription fee. I buy a month of use for $20. When this period comes to an end, an SMS reminder arrives. If you don't pay within a week, you can lose all the money you have on your balance. This is how mobile operators make money from forgetful customers.

Transport

Without a car in Lebanon it is difficult. There are practically no sidewalks here, the only public transport is buses and they rarely run. But it is not customary for the Lebanese to travel by bus: they are considered to be for migrants and tourists. Locals only travel by car.

18.6 R

costs to travel on a Lebanese bus

It is difficult to figure out where the bus is going - signs with the route, as well as stops, are rare in Lebanon. Sometimes the bus may not even have a number, so you need to stop each one and ask the driver where he is going. The fare costs $0.3 (18.6 R).

In all 9 years of living in Lebanon, I have never traveled by bus: my husband’s parents scared me that it was unsafe. I move around the city either with my husband in his car, or with friends, or with relatives.

A taxi in Lebanon will cost $6-16 (372-992 RUR) depending on the distance. Like everywhere else, there is Uber, but the most inexpensive way to get from one end of the city to the other is “service”. This is the name of the taxis that you share with other passengers when they are traveling with you. Travel using the “service” system costs no more than $3 (194 RUR). You can catch the “service” on the road. To do this, you need to stop a car with red license plates - this is how taxis are marked. The driver will ask: “taxi” or “service”. If it's a "taxi", then you go alone, but pay the full price. If it is a “service”, the taxi driver will pick up other voters along the way, but the price will be divided by the number of passengers.

Almost every Lebanese over 18 years old has a car. Moreover, most often it is taken on credit and is more expensive than the owner can afford. The desire to appear cooler than in reality is in the Lebanese blood. Beirut amazes with the number of car dealerships with used cars: Lebanese people like to change them often. The most popular car brands here are BMW and Mercedes.

State license plate registration is expensive and depends on the price of the car. For example, getting license plates for an old Opel costs $2,000 (RUR 124,000), and for a late-model Porsche Cayenne costs $10,000 (RUR 620,000).

A Russian tourist can drive in Lebanon with his own license. You can get local without an exam. I don’t have a license and I don’t drive a car, but I know that many people drive without one at all. In all the time we have lived here, my husband and I have never been stopped or asked for documents. I heard that many people are not afraid to drink and then get behind the wheel, because police officers are rare on the roads.

Gasoline prices at all gas stations are usually the same:

• AI -98 - $0.96 (59.5 R);
• AI -95 - $0.94 (58.3 R);
• diesel - $0.66 (41 R).

Parking

Regular city parking costs $0.3 (18.6 R) per half hour. Parking meters only accept coins: you pay for parking and place the receipt under the glass. There are no mobile applications. There are private parking lots, where the minimum price is $2 (124 RUR) per hour.

Popular clubs and restaurants operate “vale parking” - this is when you drive up to the desired location and give the keys to a special person who parks your car in the nearest parking lot. This name comes from the French word valet, which means “servant” or “lackey”. During the day, a “vale” costs $3-6 (194-388 R), regardless of the parking time; at night the price can reach up to $10 (646 R). On New Year's Eve we paid $16 (1034 R) in a few hours.

At first it seems that Vale parking is convenient. But in reality this is very unreliable: the parking attendant can scratch the car or park it in the wrong place, and then you will receive a fine. We once paid $100 for a parking attendant to park our car under a prohibitory sign.

You are considered lucky if, after parking like this, the radio in your car is simply switched on. One day, a box of change that we were saving for parking meters was pulled out of our car. It is difficult to hold a parking attendant accountable: there are no cameras in such parking lots, and scratches and fines are usually discovered after some time. Moreover, most parking attendants work on their own and not for any company. Finding them later is almost impossible.

You can park your car in private parking lots yourself. But it’s usually a long walk to get to them, and walking to a party is not the Lebanese style. You never know what else people will think about you.

Medicine

There is no free healthcare in Lebanon. If you do not have insurance, no one will even provide emergency assistance. There are five people in our family: me, my husband, his parents and brother. We pay $500 (RUR 31,000) per month for general insurance for everyone, which only covers cases that require emergency care: poisoning, fracture or stroke.

500 $

monthly health insurance costs in Lebanon for a family of 5 people

Lebanese whose employer contributes to the Daman fund are entitled to discounts in pharmacies and hospitals.

There is no state ambulance, but there is an ambulance from the Red Cross - in Muslim countries it is also called the Red Crescent. One day my stomach hurt very badly and I had to call the paramedics. They gave me an injection and offered to take me to a hospital several tens of kilometers from home, because the Red Cross only works with him. I refused, and we went to the nearest hospital ourselves. They accepted me there for free with insurance.

If a Lebanese has a cold or a headache, he does not go to the doctor, but to the nearest pharmacy, where his friend, brother or matchmaker probably works. After a short conversation about how the supposed uncle Ziad is doing, the pharmacist will offer the coveted pill and give recommendations for treatment. The pharmacy can also give you an injection. For example, I was recently scratched badly by a street cat and, fearing infection, I immediately went to the pharmacy. I paid $14.5 for the injection (900 RUR).

Most medications can be obtained without a prescription. Painkillers cost 3 $ (194 R), paracetamol - 2 $ (129 R), antibiotics - from 10 $ (646 R).

An appointment with a doctor costs on average $50 (3100 RUR). Many doctors who work in public hospitals also have their own private offices, so they usually make good money.

Products

There are practically no 24-hour supermarkets in Lebanon, with the exception of markets at gas stations. Fruit and vegetable stalls can be open until 2-3 am. The cheapest products are local, Egyptian and French.

The quality of the products is high, with the exception of some fruits and vegetables, in which chemicals are clearly added, I often feel this, for example, in peaches and tomatoes. But there are departments where they sell only natural farm products - they are more expensive, but there are no chemicals there.

In general, in Lebanon you can find all the usual products, with the possible exception of cottage cheese. Imported products are more expensive than local ones, except for French products. Lebanon and France traditionally have very close trade and economic relations.

We usually eat at home. We spend up to $700 (RUR 43,400) a month on food, but we don’t save and try to buy healthy products - vegetables, fish, seafood. For example, Norwegian salmon here costs $12.6 (781 R) per kg, fresh shrimp - $11.6 (719 R) per kg, chicken breast - $8.6 (533 R) per kg, rice - 1.8 $ (111 R) per kg, bananas - $1.18 (73 R) per kg.

700 $

my husband and I spend a month on groceries

Cafes and restaurants

In Lebanon there are restaurants of almost all cuisines of the world - French, Japanese, Italian, Chinese, American, and Lebanese, of course. I can’t say that some are more popular than others - Lebanese eat everything, everywhere. Restaurants are usually busy only in the evenings; it is not customary to dine there during the day. It is a common practice for one person to pay for the entire company, and so on one by one. If you have a lunch with business partners, then the wealthier party most often pays. A regular dinner at a restaurant costs my husband and I $100 (6,200 R) with alcohol and about $60 (3,720 R) without.

An alternative to Lebanese restaurants is street food. This includes shawarma, all kinds of burgers, buns and falafel. Everywhere is very tasty and clean, so buying something in a street pavilion is not scary. A sandwich from a snack bar will cost 4-5 $ (258 -322.5 R), you can order it at home, then the courier will have to pay about 2 more $ (129 R) for delivery and a tip.

To select a cafe or restaurant in Lebanon, there is a convenient Zomato application - this is an analogue of Tripadvisor, only without attractions and hotels. There you can look at reviews of establishments, prices for dishes and order food at home. Many delivery services have support on WhatsApp.

Purchases

Clothes in chain stores, such as Zara or Mango, cost about the same as in Russia. Only, in my opinion, in Lebanon things are of better quality, and there is no such clutter on the shelves.

But cosmetics and perfumes are definitely more expensive in Lebanon. For example, I bought a face cream from the American brand Kiehl’s, which costs 5,000 RUR in Russia, in Lebanon for $104 (6,448 RUR). In Russia, I’m used to buying cosmetics with discounts using bonus cards and endless promotions at Rive Gaucher and Letual. In Lebanon, such actions are rare.

Household appliances cost about the same as in Russia.

Services

There are many beauty salons in Lebanon, but the main service they offer is Botox. I do all non-invasive procedures, such as peelings and masks, in Russia. They are practically not provided here. Plastic surgery is also very popular here - all kinds of facelifts, rhinoplasty, artificial breasts, etc.

Prices are quite affordable by local standards. To do, for example, breast surgery costs $2500-3000 (RUR 155,000 -186,000). Patients from the USA and Europe often come to Lebanon for plastic surgery because it is much more expensive there.

Lebanese women rarely do manicures and hair styling themselves - everyone goes to salons. On Fridays and Saturdays, when everyone is going to party, the salons are packed. A manicure with a regular finish costs $6-10 (RUR 372-620), styling - from $10. The quality of the manicure is very low: the cuticle can be cut until it bleeds, and the polish itself can be applied carelessly.

Entertainment

The Lebanese's favorite pastime is the beach. But the beaches we are used to, when you come to the sea to lie in a sun lounger or right on the sand, are rare in Lebanon. Here the beach is a beautiful area with swimming pools, bars and paid entrance.

16 $

worth the entrance to the Lebanese beach

No matter what time you come, the price will be the same - on average 16 $ (992 RUR). For this money you can only take a sunbed and swim in the pool - most beaches do not even have access to the sea. It is not customary to swim in open water here, because the Lebanese consider the local sea dirty and wrinkle their noses with contempt.

One day, my friend and I went down from the paid beach to the sea, but the lifeguards drove us away from there: they said that they were not responsible for swimmers in open water, and sent us back to the pool.

Another favorite pastime of the Lebanese is noisy parties. They really like to go to clubs here, so there are a lot of clubs. The pleasure is not cheap - if you take a table at a club, your check must be no less than a certain amount, for example 75 $ (4650 R) per person. There are establishments without a minimum check. You can just walk in and sit at the bar for free.

Attitude towards women

Women in Lebanon are treated with great respect. They let you in and skip the line in stores and government agencies. In my husband’s family, my mother always goes to get the car serviced, because she won’t be forced to wait long in line and will definitely be well served.

On the streets, no one will ever call a woman rudely or try to attract her attention. Here it is customary to meet people only through mutual friends, and not directly.

One day I went to a nightclub with a friend, but without my husband. In the middle of the evening, a security guard came up to me and said that five different men were asking about me: who I was, what family I was from, whether I was married and how they could get to know me. At the same time, no one approached me personally.

Religion

Despite the fact that Lebanon is an Arab country, only slightly more than half of the inhabitants here profess Islam. The rest of the Lebanese are Christians: Catholics, Orthodox and representatives of 16 other religious communities.

The influence of religion on the life and appearance of the Lebanese is small. Lebanon is considered a very open and democratic country in the Arab world. Even among Muslim women, few wear a burqa here. Quite the opposite: Lebanese women like to expose themselves to the maximum, wear short tops and skirts - and no one will say anything, except that in very Muslim areas they will look askance, but nothing more.

Even during the holy month of Ramadan, when all Muslims fast until sunset, life in Lebanon does not come to a standstill, as in other Arab countries. Activity here is simply decreasing - out of respect for fellow Muslim citizens. For example, there are much fewer visitors in restaurants during the daytime, which is why the service sector is declining.

Traditions and mentality

Lebanese people love their country. Even emigrants feel homesick and try to come home more often. At the same time, Lebanese people usually do not like each other; they scold their neighbors and everyone around them for bad driving and littering on the streets. Lebanese guys do not like Lebanese girls: they believe that they are arrogant and will not start relationships with young people without checking their bank account.

Making an impression is very important to Lebanese, but their income levels often do not match the image they are trying to project. An average manager can earn $800, live with his mother and still drive a Porsche, paying a loan for it in the amount of 90% of his salary.

Even in Lebanon, it is customary to celebrate important events on a grand scale. Up to 400 guests, as well as a photographer, videographer and a famous singer, can be invited to a child’s christening. The most luxurious weddings can have up to 1000 guests.

Some TV channels cut words from songs or frames from films if there is something about sex, alcohol or even cigarettes. At the same time, there are no special prohibitions in the country. Both cigarettes and alcohol are sold in all grocery stores. It is only prohibited to smoke in public places and advertise cigarettes.

Results

The biggest drawback of living in Lebanon for me is the garbage. There is also practically nowhere to walk here, except for shopping centers. I don’t have a car, so I hardly move around the city without my husband or girlfriends.

All issues in the country are resolved through conversations and the involvement of relatives or friends. Lebanon is frankly expensive: doctors, schools and kindergartens - everything is paid. But I enjoy life here, and I’ve already gotten used to all the shortcomings such as the lack of electricity and heating.

In Lebanon, people work to live, not the other way around. The Lebanese know how to relax. The beaches and clubs are always full: people of all ages come there. Despite their love of gossip, the Lebanese are friendly and helpful.

The food here is very tasty, but what I like most is the weather and the sea. The swimming season begins in mid-March and ends in mid-October, and in winter you can ski in the mountains.

Here you can find beautiful beaches with clear water, wild waterfalls, attend dizzying parties, and explore the ruins of ancient Phoenician cities.

I don’t plan to leave Lebanon yet.

I spent the second weekend in May in Beirut. As often happens, a spontaneous trip turned out to be much better than one that you have been planning for a long time. I will tell you about this fantastic city in several posts, but today I want to present to you my top list of things that surprised me in Beirut in particular and in Lebanon in general.

1. Beirut is clearly divided into districts

The difference is striking, even if you arrived for the first time and didn’t have time to really look around. Zeitouna Bay, a coastal area, and Beirut Souks, the neighborhoods around the new Beirut market, are an incredible concentration of Porsches, Bentleys and Maseratis, women with expensive bags and their elegant companions (oh, what beautiful faces the Lebanese have!), French-speaking families with children in white polo shirts, beautiful restaurant terraces and respectable beach clubs. Walk a little further and you will see a completely different life - girls in hijabs play ball, boys jump from rocks, old men fish, Arab families smoke hookahs on the rocks by the sea and grill kebabs, play cards, hiding from the gaze of Allah and passers-by with cardboard boxes. Along Armenian Street there is a whole hipster cluster called Mar-Mikael with cozy coffee shops and bars, graffiti and art galleries. Saifi Village is a cozy neighborhood with tiny squares filled with cafe tables, where only the oriental windows of the houses, pointed at the top, remind you that you are not in Rome, but in Beirut.

2. Lack of tourists

Despite the fact that Beirut is named year after year by Lonely Planet, Conde Nast Traveler, and the New York Times as the most interesting Middle Eastern destination, a city you need to see for yourself, or the liveliest spot in the Middle East, all the beauty of Beirut, its drive, its the contrasts go mainly to the locals. There are almost no tourists on the streets, nothing prevents you from watching life go by. A fantastic feeling of a city convenient enough for tourists (wonderful airport, good roads, plenty of places to walk, excellent restaurants, hotels and shops, museums) and the opportunity to be immersed in local life.

3. Shopping

As much as I didn’t like Dubai from a shopping point of view, Beirut turned out to be my city despite the fact that I didn’t buy anything! There are no malls here, but the entire center (beautifully restored, by the way) is nothing but shops. Chanel and Hermes, Celine and Christian Loubotin, Armani and Versce, Zilli and Cavalli, Saint Laurent Paris and Prada - all significant luxury brands are here. Looking for more budget-friendly shopping? Please! Zara, H&M, Zadig&Voltaire, Massimo Dutti, Marella are waiting for you. Do you want things from local designers? No problem. Niche jewelry? Please! Farm products? Yes, here they are!

4. Parking

Walking is not customary in Beirut, although there are many places for walking, unlike Dubai or Muscat. I comfortably walked around the city on foot, covering 15 km a day, but the locals, of course, prefer cars. They park them on the sides of popular streets or embankments, in two or three rows. I still couldn’t understand how they were leaving. Then I looked closer and saw guys with wooden cabinets at every establishment, from Cavalli Cafe to Starbucks. It turned out that these were parking attendants, the real local mafia. This is not valet parking, carried out by the restaurant administration (although such parking exists), these are several companies that have apparently divided their zones of influence and are sorting out the situation and the cars. It is not customary to park here yourself - sitting on the terrace of one of the Italian restaurants in downtown, I watched as a family drove up to it in an Audi Q7 and, despite the fact that there was enough free space nearby to park, the girl who got out of the car gave the keys to the valet and the family left for dinner, and he had already parked the car.

5. Klaxons

If you don't honk, you're not Lebanese! Yes, I know that in the Arab East it is customary to buzz with or without reason, but other Middle Eastern cities where I was were not particularly conducive to walking, and therefore I was surprised by this only here. Everyone is buzzing! Drivers leaving an alley and seeing a traffic jam in front of them, taxi drivers wanting to give you a ride (every taxi will honk at you, every one!), bus drivers picking up passengers.

6. Construction boom

In Lebanon, everything is in order with the economy - statistics show this, a tourist can see this with the naked eye. All of Beirut is under construction! Luxurious skyscrapers with swimming pools on the roofs, new hotels and apartment complexes, club houses and private mansions - in a couple of years nothing in the city will remind you of the war.

7. Multiculturalism

I can’t say that this was a discovery for me, but seeing with my own eyes what Wikipedia writes about is always interesting. Lebanon is a secular country. There are 40% Muslims here, 60% Christians. Mosques coexist (literally stand side by side) with Christian churches, hijabs and short skirts are equally popular here, and Arabic and French are spoken here at the same time. The Lebanese Parliament is amazing! Quoting Wikipedia: " The president of the country should be a Maronite Christian, the prime minister should be a Sunni Muslim, the speaker of parliament should be a Shiite Muslim, and there should be equal representation of Christians and Muslims in the government. "

8. Nightlife

Oh, those bars on the roofs of skyscrapers overlooking the marina and the sunset over the Mediterranean Sea! Oh, those cocktails and live music! Oh, those warm summer evenings, when the whole city seems to be sitting on the terraces and sipping wine! Oh, that hookah smell! Oh, these traffic jams from Porsche and Bentley! In general, going to bed before 2 am in Beirut on weekends is criminal.

9. The friendliness of the Lebanese people

Oh, how friendly the people are here! Even border guards, even airport security, even police on the streets near government buildings! The border guards chat nicely with you, wondering if you liked Beirut, the police politely ask you not to film what should not be filmed, and add you are welcome, on the streets people smile at you and say welcome to Beirut! One day my husband and I were even told welcome, Germany mistaking us, apparently, for Germans.

10. Language mishmash

Surprisingly, where they serve you a French menu, they may not speak French! I have come across more than one or two such places. But, of course, everyone speaks English! Locals speak in an amazing mixture of Arabic, French and English, either randomly changing languages ​​in conversation, or diluting French speech with Arabic words or vice versa.

In a word, Lebanon has become, perhaps, the main discovery of recent months!

Every year the world expands its borders more and more. Quite a few Russians have decided to take citizenship of Lebanon, a country very different from Russia but, nevertheless, interesting and worthy of attention. Some went to a state in the Middle East to find their soulmate, some in search of adventure and new sensations, some in the hope of getting rich.

Muhammad Al-Amin Mosque in Beirut.

What kind of country is Lebanon? What is the Lebanese population like? What are the prospects for Russians to settle normally in an Arab state? And also wondering, is it necessary?

Those who love the mountains and the sea find the Lebanese Republic a perfectly acceptable and even wonderful place to live. Today it is not the prosperous country it was before the civil war that began in the 70s, but still, the state has something to be proud of.

This includes a lot of attractions inherited from ancestors, and modern buildings, not devoid of architectural charisma and creativity. The fantastically beautiful Lebanese nature will not leave you indifferent. Perhaps one day you, looking down at the capital of the country, Beirut, will realize that you have found what you have been looking for all your life.

The capital of Lebanon is Beirut.

Lebanon on the world map looks like a small state, sandwiched by Syria. Half of its territory is washed by the Mediterranean Sea. Most of the territory is occupied by mountains. The symbol of the country is the famous Lebanese cedar,

However, today only miserable wooded islands remain of the once richest cedar tracts. Where Lebanon is located, there is a pleasant Mediterranean climate.

Lebanon's population in 2018 is four million people, the vast majority (95%) of whom are Lebanese. 4% are Armenians. Representatives of other nationalities account for only 1%. Only God knows how many Russians are included in this insignificant figure. As a rule, our compatriots live in Beirut, the capital of an eastern state. Therefore, when considering the prospects for life in the Lebanese Republic, it is best to focus on this city.

Salaries and food prices in Lebanon in 2018-2019

By Russian standards, life in the Republic is at a completely acceptable level. The average salary in Lebanon is just over $1,000. At the same time, the prices are not particularly steep. For example, an average loaf of bread will cost $0.85, a kilogram of chicken breast will cost no more than $8, and 12 eggs will cost $2.83. Prices in Lebanon allow workers in less prestigious professions to live comfortably.

Professionals can look forward to a more luxurious life. If you buy or rent an apartment, the price largely depends on the place where you intend to stay.

In the center of Beirut, real estate is much more expensive. So, if you rent one room in a residential area of ​​the capital, the rent will be about $500. If you aim for the center, you will have to pay about $850. A three-room apartment on the outskirts will require a monthly payment of $1,000. In the center you will pay about $2,200 for the same living space.

City center in the capital of Lebanon.

If you are targeting the metropolitan center, the average apartment for Lebanon will cost at least $5,000 per m2. If in West Beirut you can buy an apartment for $900,000, then in the center an equivalent property will cost $2.5 million. In Ashrafieh (a district of the capital) they are asking $1 million for an apartment.

Speculation has made real estate in Lebanon accessible only to the wealthiest segments of the population. And this is a big disadvantage of the country, both for foreigners and for its local residents.

In the Arab world, Beirut ranks 2nd in terms of cost of apartments.

Most immigrants from Russia are women who married Lebanese and received Lebanese citizenship. Without it, it’s difficult to get a decent one. A work permit costs 2,000 per year. This is not always beneficial.

It is not easy to find a job even if you are a citizen of the country. The easiest jobs to find are bead collector, bead embroiderer or nurse. Another thing is that these are not the most prestigious types of activities.

The easiest way to find a job is for those who are fluent in Arabic. Russian-speaking people are willingly taken to stores visited by citizens of the former Union. Practice shows that not every husband is ready to allow his wife to work in such stores. The fact is that our compatriots often come to such stores not of the most dignified behavior.

You shouldn’t think that all Arab women stay at home, raise children and cook food for their husbands. Quite the contrary, many women in the Arab country work and even occupy leadership positions. Ambitious Russian women, if they wish, also have the opportunity to move up the career ladder. This is not prohibited by law. The main thing is that the husband does not object.