Washington

How this blogger was charmed by the city everyone loves to hate.

After a tiring, long winding trip, I finally landed in Dulles International Airport.

Meeting Washington DC was destined to be a complicated matter. To someone like me who’s been following current affairs, Washington can summon intense pictures of angry protests, harsh, intrusive security arrangements and imperialistic Presidents.

In the Middle East, Washington means so many bad things to so many people. It’s the unfair bully who sides with killers, the hypocrite that cherry-picks dictators to start fights with and befriends others, the culturally insensitive monster that wants to invades our countries for reasons no one actually believes… Even outside of the Middle East, Washington has many haters. To them, Washington is the symbol of ravaging consumerism, spiritual emptiness, superficial materialism and unbridled violence. The Land of bimbos, guns and McDos.

It is easy to be caught up in the world and words of pundits and critics, and it is difficult to try to assess this symbollicaly saturated place without preconceptions. This is why I found out that the most striking thing about Washington is how normal it is. It is a place filled with life, with friendly people who commute daily to work, countless magnificent museums of sciences and arts, theaters, shops and picturesque landscapes. It was also calmer and more peaceful than I thought it would be. I was actually shocked when the police man smiled at me. In fact, the only tension I witnessed so far was that between a couple of squirrels who were quarreling in one of the parks.

Is it too bad if I wish Lebanon was more like Washington? Is it blasphemous? Bad presidents come and go, but in strategic matters like the soul of a country, the choice doesn’t seem that difficult between the mullahs in Tehran who advocate a culture of death and nihilism, and the lively spirit I found here among the nice people of Washington DC.

PS: Thanks for all the nice comments on the previous post. I really appreciate that you care :)