Viera from Beirut

About me I am a Slovak, born in 1983, who has studied international politics in Prague. I lived in Prague for 9 years before I met my future husband who happened to be a Lebanese from Beirut. At the moment we live here with our family, I work with the local university, and the kids have started school. Why Beirut I've lived in Beirut since 2011. When I first came here, it ...

Aug 30, 2025

Walking in Achrafieh Beirut

Meeting the locals

"Walking in Achrafieh and meeting the locals in Beirut, especially the groups of old people, has made me feel like I'm really part of a big village..."

When I came to Lebanon eight years ago, I didn't speak Arabic. I took some classes but what really helped me learning the language and culture was interacting with the locals. If you wander around Achrafieh (and I'm sure other parts of Beirut as well, I'm only writing about Achrafieh because I live here and I walk around a lot), whether it is on the small streets around Sassine square or Saint Nicola's Cathedral, you will spot a lot of elderly locals. They will be just sitting on plastic chairs in front of their buildings or shops, playing cards or backgammon and sipping "ahwe" (an Arabic word for coffee). You will notice how they are eager to talk to you, to just say hi and ask you how you are and inviting you to have a coffee with them.

If you start passing by the same spots regularly you will see how they recognize you and wave at you from a distance. A truly heartwarming and unique feeling that makes you feel like you are in a small village where everybody knows you, despite being a stranger in the capital of Lebanon.

I strongly encourage you to take an hour or two to walk around and interact with the locals, have "ahwe" with them, let their kindness overwhelm you. The fact that you don't speak Arabic won't be a problem: they will try even harder to understand you and use whatever foreign vocabulary they might know.

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Achrafieh

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