Despite glowing reviews from alumni all over the world, Lebanon is a country that is far from any top study abroad destination lists in the West. Instead, it is marked under a list of travel advisories on many government websites.
These advisories are important to consider in your decision-making, as is your own assessment of risk. Examine your personal comfort level, solidity of self, financial plan, health and safety considerations, and all relevant policies in place.
Remember, our brains are wired to be cautious, to be on the lookout for danger, and to move around quickly like a monkey swinging from branch to branch. In addition to our hard-wiring, the external stimuli of unrelenting crises and their interconnectedness around the world can lead to internal overwhelm.
Focusing becomes difficult, and sorting through information is an endeavor in its own right. Through practice, we can train our brains to slow down. As a thought experiment, for the remainder of this article, place your intention and attention on unburdening yourself from all the uncertainty of the world, and release any feelings of being hurried.
Go ahead, let out an exhale. Welcome yourself into yourself to cultivate personal hospitality. It’s easier to navigate risk when we are at ease with ourselves, and much of being at ease comes from a warm welcome.
The practice of welcoming ourselves extends to welcoming others. In his book The Heart of Higher Education, author Parker Palmer says, “Learning spaces need to be hospitable spaces not merely because kindness is a good idea but because real education requires rigor.”
He maintains that hospitality supports rigor, and where the “proof can be found in the everyday classroom experience,” it is also found seamed onto the composite sketches of Lebanon.
In 2022, the hospitality Lebanon extends to guests is nothing short of a miracle. Lebanon is grappling with hyperinflation, loss of income, skyrocketing costs of fuel, food and medication scarcity, a pandemic, and life after a 2750 ton ammonium nitrate explosion at Beirut’s port.
There’s a school of thought in Tibetan Buddhism that suggests to get what you want, you have to give that thing away. What if you applied this framework as you consider Lebanon as a study abroad destination?
If you’re willing, here are four ways that you can reciprocate hospitality in Lebanon by being a considerate guest.
