An illustration by Mohamad Kraytem.
In this series, "Stories of Love," men and women with direct or indirect ties to Lebanon entrust our journalist Julia Mokdad with the great love stories that have shaped their lives. Through their accounts, transcribed here, we travel across different journeys, eras, cultures and worlds — stories that, in some way, are also about all of us. Today, we relay Adam's* story, in his own words.From my birth until I was six, I grew up in Beirut to the sounds of bombs, machine guns and adult conversations in underground shelters. At that time, this is what Lebanon meant: a country you have to leave, whether you want to (my father wants to) or not (my mother doesn't). From six to eight, we lived in Zahle, a sort of waiting room sheltered behind multiple checkpoints, with Syria as our only escape route. When I turned eight, my...
In this series, "Stories of Love," men and women with direct or indirect ties to Lebanon entrust our journalist Julia Mokdad with the great love stories that have shaped their lives. Through their accounts, transcribed here, we travel across different journeys, eras, cultures and worlds — stories that, in some way, are also about all of us. Today, we relay Adam's* story, in his own words.From my birth until I was six, I grew up in Beirut to the sounds of bombs, machine guns and adult conversations in underground shelters. At that time, this is what Lebanon meant: a country you have to leave, whether you want to (my father wants to) or not (my mother doesn't). From six to eight, we lived in Zahle, a sort of waiting room sheltered behind multiple checkpoints, with Syria as our only escape route. When I turned eight,...