Just another day in paradise...

So I'm being a little facetious. (Is that the right spelling? or the right term?) Oh well, I had my first day of culture shock, overwhelming, pissed off, just leave me be and let me sleep kind of day yesterday.
We moved into our apartment at the 'My Home Residences', went grocery shopping, and just had a productive kind-of day. I still can't get my computer to work at school, our financial aid from the US isn't showing on our fee statements for school, and I'm sick of being stared at.
Okay, today I'm not feeling that bad, but yesterday, I just wanted to shut myself off from the world, and fall asleep and forget it all.
I'm glad it happened yesterday, and not tomorrow. We start classes tomorrow finally. I'm a bit nervous, but I'm sure it will all go well.
I learned something about Lebanese politics the other night. Unlike in the states, the president is elected by the Parliament. i was wondering why there was a significant lack of election propaganda on the streets leading up to yesterday's election. well, not yesterday' election, as it was postponed until October 23rd. i guess we'll see if that one happens or not. The real elections, by the people, are for the parliament, which isn't until 2009. I guess that's when you will really see politics in Lebanon. I hope we're here for it, for the experience.
If you can believe it, we went out the other night. Yep, we stayed up past midnight. and.... drumroll please.... Jeremy actually enjoyed going out. We met up with some other students from AUB, mostly Americans, for jazz at one of the hotels. a little strange at first, as there were mostly expats there, we met up with some lebanese friends, and then went to another cafe. ended up meeting 2 cool students from poland, just passing through, and ran into about 20 other international students at AUB. really had a great night.
I'm surprised at how many people we have actually met. people are so nice, whether they are lebanese or other nationalities. it has been wonderful.