The Orange and Blue (and green and yellow)

I know that to maintain my audience, you need new posts regularly. I'm trying! I have been keeping notes, which get more cryptic as time passes) but don't have time to write everyday. Last Saturday night (this was written Wednesday, but I'm only posting it now, Friday -- maybe) we Beirut Exchangers (BErs) attended a reception in our honor. Guests included the US Ambassador Michele Sison, a career foreign service officer who has had many posts in the Middle East. The story here is that last Fourth of July (while Bush was still in office) she invited the diplomatic community and Lebanese officials to a party at the Embassy, which was catered by McDonalds. She wore a ten-gallon hat and chaps. When we Googled her background we decided she must have been tweaking the Lebanese, because she HAD to understand how her choices of food and attire would be received. Ambassador Sison is a vivacious woman with sleek straight dark hair who wore a bright orange print dress and orange shoes to our party. Prior to the election, wearing that color would have branded her a supporter of 8 March Alliance. Since the US Government backed 14 March Alliance, maybe she was just stirring the pot. During the election days, I was genially harassed for wearing orange. Unfortunately, it is a favorite color of mine -- often paired with its complement, blue -- which was the color of 14 March. Obviously, I'm limited to the contents of my suitcase, and my big purse, which is always with me is orange. Lebanese political parties all have colors and flags fly from many balconies and car antennae. The two main rivals, Saad Hariri (14 March), the son of assassinated former prime minister Rafiq Hariri, and General Michel Aoun (8 March, allied with Hezbollah) dueled with their huge multi-story banners sporting slogans and pictures of the candidates and hung from the roofs of buildings all over the city. One slogan would go up, and quickly the opposite party would parry with a clever response, playing on puns and popular culture. I don't know which side I would have voted for. Wikipedia characterizes one side as anti-Syrian (14 March), and the other as pro-Syrian. Based on things I've heard in this program, I don't think it is that simple at all.

I've written more, but must retype it -- cut and paste isn't working. I've gotta go now, so I'll post the rest later.
Love to all,
Ginney