A friend of mine asked a question on Facebook two days ago that said: ” What if you were in hell and someone pissed you off, where do you tell them to go?” I told her to Tripoli, somewhere between Tebbeneh & Jabal!
The past week has been a living hell. We never went to work for two consecutive days, we got more attached to our laptops, TVs & cell phones to follow news that no one seems to understand or able to analyze. Due to these unfortunate incidents, the marathon that was supposed to be held on the 13th of May was postponed to the 20th. I said to myself let’s hope so, who knows? It might take more than a week for things to settle.
And then it was confirmed! And to be honest, I had cold feet whether to participate or not. I kept thinking what if they started shooting? Although it’s unlikely to happen considering the track is relatively far from the danger zone but it didn’t feel right to go especially that Farah had to teach too and there’s no way I would go alone.
I wasn’t quite surprised when none of Farah’s students showed up considering the location of the school but I was actually thankful that Farah insisted we go. When we got there I saw a crowd from all ages and it was a relief. I went there because I wanted to prove a point: We want to live in peace, We want Tripoli a city of life not destruction, and it seems that a lot of people felt the same. I met a lot of relatives, friends, coworkers, students and even met new people there. Here are some snapshots of the event:
The sweet Darina
Before the start line
Mr.Bakri & his kids
I love this shot!
The finish line
This huge bike is like a tradition now
Wheel chair winners
My student came in first 🙂
I like that the organizers were very considerate as in not getting any singers or bands like usually, There was a DJ that gave some beats to the event and that totally stopped when giving the trophies. We stayed for a while met Aboude and took a taxi home.
Once we got there, I saw this annoying neighbor of us who asked us sarcastically: “You’re away running and having fun, while people are killed!!” I asked him in a dreadful tone:”Yeah? Who died now?” He said:” They killed a Sheikh in Halba! The army did it!”
I left him babbling and got home to find my parents watching the news, shaking their heads in sorrow. Indeed my crow-faced neighbor was right this time. I just couldn’t believe it. I felt so sad and mad and helpless. I tried to find a distraction by writing this post but I couldn’t finish it. What added to my sorrow was the school’s SMS announcing no school tomorrow. I’ll be writing another post about this sad event soon…
Back to the marathon. They said 25.000 people were officially enrolled to participate, only 10.000 showed up. There was a great controversy about whether it’s insensitive to participate or not and verbal battles with pointing fingers took place on facebook regarding the marathon. To me, I followed my heart that told me to stay alive and to say it out loud by being there. Will I be attending next year’s marathon? I can’t be sure for now but I just pray it would be held in a better general mood for this city that is fed up with misery…
Babbles Of A Local Girl... 
Tripoli is alive that was the msg!