So I was in the States not too long ago which explains the article drought from my side, and as a tourist, writer/tourist, or whatever it is that I am, after having spent 3 weeks there visiting 5 states, you would expect me to come back with a lot of things to write about. In reality, I do have a lot of things to say, so here it is. First of all, I loved every square inch of everywhere I visited. From the "I got money and I wreck a Bentley for fun" rap style Miami to the "I'm in rush, so to gain time, I better eat my sandwich while I'm taking a dump" New York to the classy educated Boston to the craaaazy Vegas to the "I can have a family here and be a boring dad with a huge belly" LA (though some of the streets in LA are where gangsta rap came from), I loved it. Although I loved each of these places for their unique characteristics, all of them had some things in common which is what made the country as a whole (at least the 5 states I visited), look great to me. As a Lebanese citizen, I know how open minded we Lebanese are, I know how smart we are, I know how much we know about the rest of the world (one drunk woman in the club didn't know where Lebanon was, and I really didn't expect her to), I know how many languages we speak with ease and have the ability to learn 5 more in a few weeks' time, so what can we learn from the Americans and what can we do to emulate them to make Lebanon a better place?

You have probably heard of so many racism stories in the United States, and that's probably the case in some areas which I didn't visit, but let me be disrespectful about some disrespectful people and put them aside for a moment. I'm talking about how great Boston is, and I want Beirut and Tripoli and Saida to be as great as Boston for example. Flashback to when I was wandering the streets of South Beach, Miami,talking to my sister in Armenian and no one ever cared. In fact, some people were interested to know what this exotic language was. Over there, you probably hear 10 different languages in 5 minutes, and Armenian was the 11^th in the 6^th minute. Compare that to the irritation we have as let's say Beirutis when we hear a different dialect of our very own Lebanese Arabic, say the one spoken in the North, in "our" areas. This has to change, fast! We have to accept each other and love each other more. For some reason, we are good at welcoming foreigners, but not so good at welcoming Lebanese people from other areas, which is kind of absurd if you think about it, because Lebanon is a pretty small country and it's not like people in the north or in the south for example, are waaaaaay too different from people in Beirut, and even if they are, what's the problem? The same applies the other way around as well, of course.

Another thing I noticed is that how judgmental we are as Lebanese towards clothing and appearances. Sure, when you're in Rodeo Drive, LA, and celebrities or celebrity like plastic people appear, they will judge you for the shoes you're wearing, but in general, no one really cares about what you're wearing and how or if you've combed your hair. You ask a question, they answer you... without giving you "the look". Again, go to South Beach or even Vegas, and you can walk into the classiest of clubs wearing whatever the hell you were wearing at the beach. I fulfilled my lifelong dream of walking into a club wearing Nike shorts. Seriously though, no one will tell you anything. Compare that to a nightclub you're walking into in Lebanon and the security guard is scanning you from top to bottom to see if you're wearing designer clothes or not, and in the latter case, he's probably gonna reject you as if he is the owner of the joint.No disrespect to him, he is instructed to do so, but his entire salary is probably not enough to buy him the shirt based on which he is judging people.That's how crazy it gets in Lebanon. Said Akl, our famous poet, and Einstein had a difficult time combing their hair, but that didn't stop them from being geniuses. We could really make use of being less judgmental towards people and things would be a bit better. Having to reach home before 6pm, before they cut the electricity, to use the elevator is enough to worry about in Lebanon, it would help if we worried just a tad less about appearances and used that vacant spot in our worries to worry about what really matters, what's inside us, how we treat each other, what we actually say, etc...

One last thing I'm going to discuss in this piece is the freedom which is in the States which isn't getting abused. Sure, in Lebanon we are able to drink and drive, but that's not freedom, that's abusing the freedom we have because we might hurt someone else in the process. We can also drive without fastening our seatbelts, but again, that's not freedom, that's stupidity. While walking on the streets in the States, you will hear great music coming out of pretty much everywhere: pharmacies, grocery stores, barber shops... anywhere. If you like the music, you can bang your head along with it or throw a Michael Jackson dance move and people will only see that you're trying to have fun instead of classifying you as a weirdo. Ask yourself: how would you feel if some guy was dancing on the "Uptown Funk" while walking in the streets of Hazmieh? Now ask yourself this: how is that guy hurting you? Exactly! He isn't. As far as I'm concerned, he can do whatever he likes as long as he's not hurting me. That's the tiny bit of freedom I'm talking about which releases stress from people. Furthermore, maybe he's practicing break dancing, most special talents develop from the streets. Check the best footballers from Brazil throughout the years if you don't believe me.These small amounts of freedom here and there are what enable people to express themselves, to be creative, to fulfill their true potential in whatever they're good at.They don't have to worry about needless things. They can use that split second of a time to come up with something genius.

All that said, I was happy to come back to Lebanon and enjoy the rest of my vacation with family, some awesome friends, two lovely dogs, and mostly, a beautiful country, before heading back to work in KSA. Until next time loves.

By : Vanig Bostanian