Random Thoughts from Lebanon

I arrived at the Rest House at 07.15. On the way, there was a lone road sweeper at work; otherwise, the streets of Tyre were virtually deserted, although the quantity of laundry drying on balconies seemed to indicate that more people had remained in the city than was generally estimated. 

There were already quite a number of people waiting at the rest House, almost entirely Lebanese with dual nationality, mainly German. Designer jeans and T-shirts were much in evidence among the men but most of the women wore headscarves and long dresses. No one seemed to be organising anything and I learned from a German TV reporter that the departure of the ship from Cyprus had been delayed and that it was now expected to arrive at 11.00 a.m. instead of 8.00 a.m., and leave at 5 p.m. 

There seemed to be more journalists than potential evacuees at the Rest House at times and since there were only two real foreigners amongst the evacuees, an English teacher at the Evangelical School in Tyre and I, they gravitated to us. I was interviewed for BBC TV and Radio, ITN, Channel 4 and Sky News, plus the Daily Telegraph, Sun, Mirror and Mail. 

The ship finally arrived about 11.30 a.m. but had to unload humanitarian aid first. Finally, we left the Rest House in buses escorted by the Lebanese army, who also transported some people in their trucks. They even had their own video cameraman recording the event, no doubt for PR purposes. On arrival at the port, we discovered that the Princessa Marissa was lying offshore and that we would be taken out to her in the ship’s lifeboats. There was some Lebanese bureaucracy to deal with while our passports were checked against the lists of each nationality and we were given a voucher stamped by the official, which got us through the barrier and handed over to the German embassy staff, who were assisted by representatives of the Canadian and Australian governments. The Australians dealt with the British citizens and we were quickly into a lifeboat and on the way to the ship. Transferring to the ship was a bit difficult, but there were plenty of willing hands to help, especially with the luggage, children, and older people. Representatives of the German Red Cross were on hand to deal with medical problems. There were at least two wheel chair cases and two children with severe burns. 

By 14.00, I was on board and in my cabin. Since the boat could carry 800 passengers and the number of evacuees was not much more than 200, there was no problem with space. Shortly after boarding, I went to the bar and had a pint of Keo lager to cool me down. Lunch was soon offered and the ship sailed on time at 17.00.

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