اشترِك في نشرتنا الإخبارية
Starting back from October 17, 2019, revolution to January 17, my life has changed a lot. As citizens, we joined each other on the streets, asking for our rights, and wanting the government to resign to live decent lives. "Simply because our corrupt politicians stole everything away from us, even our dignity, all we were asking for is quality of life with fundamental human rights. My Lebanon has been voided of these, robbed of its independence by stripping it from water, electricity, health care, traffic laws, education, and agriculture. For the past thirty years, the corrupt government has been the chief thief that bled my Lebanon to death. Our evergreen Cedars mentioned in the Bible over 47 times, tell a story of the jewel of the Middle East, my Lebanon 10452 km2. You can ski by day and party by night by the sea, it is the country that never sleeps and has a fantastic culture, tradition, and nature. Sadly, we have no government that has respect for the country or its people to let go of them very quickly. The country is left with nothing, people are immigrating all over the world to live decent lives, and I am one of them.
"What are you still doing in this filthy country, fighting for a future we do not even have? You have an American passport! Leave at least you get a future and get to live with dignity." I have heard this sentence countless times from many people. I never wanted to leave, even though that means I might miss a year or two of college. I believed standing up for my country and making it a better place for all of us, is way more important than studying for a future I do not have. I have never missed a day in the revolution for the first two weeks, and I stayed on the roads from dusk till dawn, not knowing the way home. I made it very clear to my parents that I am not different from any other citizen on the road fighting, and that I will not immigrate even though I have the chance to. I would not even get off the streets whatsoever even though it meant to cost my life. Endless arguments were ongoing between my parents and I, so I go back to the US. I could not handle the subject anymore; it put me into so much stress and sleepless nights not wanting to leave my life behind. I adore every detail about my Lebanon, the traffic every day to Beirut, drinking coffee with my grandmother, the old cars, the people greeting each other from the balconies, the sound of the church bells ringing every day, and the road trips with friends in my old car. I adore every single little detail. Until one morning, I woke up to the worst news of my life that my ticket was booked to January 17. Time stood still as if my old life had ended and a new life had begun, no words describe how I felt, as if I lost someone so close to me. I love my country, but why does it hate me? Why take away my pure happiness? It is because we have a corrupt government that could not care less about the country and the citizens. My parents reached a point where they do not have enough money to help me through college and my brother in school. January 17 came, I felt worse than ever, roads started to close early in the morning, I prayed that roads leading to the airport would close too. I reached the airport saying goodbye to my dad, seeing his tears in his eyes, and telling me: "Put those wings on and fly! Do not look back; you have a mission to get your degrees and come back and make the changes you dreamed of and asked for when you were on the streets." I learned that you should bloom where you are planted and that each day is a gift and not a given right, knowing everything in life happens for a reason relying on God through every step we take.
