Day EightyEight

Asherafie Street Party

the talk of the town

as the streets deny entrance to cars and a crafts market is set out instead.

Chadya, Julia, Alex and I set off to check it out.

We get there in a layed back stroll

and start observing colours and textures.

Alex sees an interesting bracelet,

one with an anchor on it

and it's the one Jay was thinking to get back in February

before he found the perfect bracelet.

I wonder if he still wears it.

We head to where the music is louder 

and our energy is hyped.

I tell Alex over loud outdoor music

'WE SHOULD HAVE A DANCE FOR THIS!'

since we already have a little hip hop rutine for other beats.

She heard 

'WE SHOULD DANCE TO THIS'

and nodds to me repeatedly.

She waves 'come'

so we stand next to each other

and dance it off 

like an international flash mob.

We look left and right and next thing you know

we are surrounded by people following our steps.

The music is so loud we can't even hear our laughter

but the beat goes on

and so does the mob.

We give a smooth finale as the song ends and

proceed to look at scarfs on the next stall.

Casually. Rockstars.

The market seems boring

after a while,

and we get hungry.

We pick up some wraps and sit opposite the stall.

With Julia we discuss 'alternative' and 'underground' 

scenes of Beirut compared to Cypriot and German scenes.

Last night was a bit of a disappointment so we wonder where the scenes are at.

We move on to afternoon outdoor partying

and we come across a taste of that scene.

A female dj

playing house electro

behind broken walls

within policed spaces

on the streets

of Beirut.

Quite alternative I'd say.

And at that moment I was so content

for experiencing all this

in such scary settings

yet feeling so free.

Again and again,

what is it about Beirut.

I guess it's not having much to lose

cz everything has been lost already.

And so

we celebrate life.

Walla.