A never ending fight

I am proud to share with you followers & friends my latest advance in post cancer rehabilitation process:

Psychologically I was followed by dr rabih Hourani el massri(ex murex colleague converted to psychiatry)

Did many sessions to accept my condition and he encouraged me to keep fighting as long as there is hope for improvements even if little, and so I did.

For leg mobility I rejoined the Laetitia Hatem center in hotel dieu for stretching and hydrotherapy session were I started to see improvements in my walking balance & stability in walking

For my hand use i asked my friends to do research on the possible reachable solutions for my case and they came back with the Saebo solution that gladly had a representative in Lebanon Phisioline Sodeco square center no waiting I asked for an appointment with Dr. Malek Ounsi who was more excited than me to proceed asap we ordered the needed devices:

1-Saebo stretch to reduce muscles spasticity/atrophy

2- saebo glove to reeducate finger motion and neurologic order

I’m sharing with u the results after 7 sessions:

Impressive huh?

Big thanks to dr Malek and his team

And a special thanks to Elyssar l zein who was closely following my case and gave it high importance and was my main motivator (look at her pic you will understand better) => still same old Fadi some things never change ;)

Accommodation in Beirut - Finding a place to stay

Last week, Shane, an Irish guy who is planning to move to Beirut in the near future, asked for my help in finding an affordable and central accommodation in Beirut.

Since I couldn't come up with a decent suggestion he found this interesting site and asked me to check it out for him and advise on the place.

So I followed the directions on this hand drawn map:

at first I found it hard to find the little alley between el Mandaloune grill and the Coral gaz station. In fact the alley is so tiny that I passed it twice without noticing it (see it's behind the orange 'thing')


Taking down the alley, I was surprised to see this nice old building that serves as an Arabic language learning institute

Further down, this private garden that serves as a snack for the hostel , (you can see 2um Nazih baking on her Saj)

I give it to you, it's not the Grey or the Four seasons, but one could not but admire the old house architecture under renovation

below the reception,

and the double room setting :

Now comes the most interesting part : the rates that will highly interest any student or NGO worker such as Shane (25usd per night the single room on a monthly rate) also available, a shared dorm option.

Now why am I blogging about it ?

1 - I never knew we have such places in Lebanon

2 - I found it cute,decent and suitable for students / foreigners / tourists who cannot afford the expensive luxurious hotels we have... so spread the news

3 - On that same day , there was a candle light march in Beirut for preserving such old buildings from being destroyed and replaced by modern towers

A good example of how we can take advantage of those charming structures without destroying them.

Voila...

Home coming process hints

21 months ago, I was packing my things in Paris and moving back to Beirut...

Today I remembered this period as I was having lunch with one of my friends who is currently experiencing the same 'home coming' process. (gladly I am not the only A**hole who took this step, as more and more of my friends are moving back)

As a 'subject matter expert' I was giving him some hints and tips on the issues he would be facing.

First hint : If you are shipping your things to Lebanon, and to get your things thru the airport customs, you have to have some good connections with the surete generale (Amn el 3am) especially if by mistake you decided to ship your CD and DVD collection. Apparently they need to go through censorship (ra2abeh) to make sure that the content is aligned with their values and ethics. If not, make sure to prepare a good bakhchich !

So for those of you guys thinking of bringing your porn collection ... re-consider :)

Second hint : when employed in Lebanon, it is a common practice for your employer not to declare your full salary to social security. Don't panic it's normal , this way they pay less charges, and no it wont affect the huge home loan you're planning to get from your bank ! Not that I encourage these practices, but this is the way it goes here

3rd hint : be patient ! especially with your parents, they will still think of you / treat you as the same young boy who left 9 years earlier! It will take some time for you and for them to adapt to the new situation

Anyway, welcome back dude ! it was good to see you...