| Lebanon has a lively
arts scene, both traditional and contemporary. The national dance,
the dabke, is an energetic folk dance. Classical belly dancing still
plays an important role at weddings, representing the transition
from virgin bride to sensual woman, and is also popular in nightclubs.
Traditional Arabic music is created using unharmonised melodies
and complex rhythms, often accompanied by sophisticated, many-layered
singing. Instruments used include the oud, a pear-shaped string
instrument; the tabla, a clay, wood or metal and skin percussion
instrument; the nay, a single reed, open-ended pipe with a lovely
mellow tone; and the qanun, a flat trapezoid instrument with at
least 81 pluckable strings.
Literature and poetry have always
had an important place in Lebanese culture. One very popular form
of poetry is the zajal, in which a group of poets enter into a
witty dialogue by improvising verses to songs. The most famous
Lebanese literary figure is Khalil Gibran, a 19th-century poet,
writer and artist whose work explored Christian mysticism. Contemporary
writers include Amin Maalouf, Emily Nasrallah and Hanan Al-Shaykh.
About 60% of Lebanon's population
is Muslim and 40% is Christian. The largest Muslim group is the
Shiite (Shia) sect, followed by the Sunni and the Druze. The Druze
are one of the religious curiosities of the Middle East. Originally
an offshoot of Islam, they have diversified so much from the mainstream
that they are often considered to constitute a whole separate
religion. The Druze believe that God incarnated himself in men
at various times and that his last, and final, incarnation was
Al-Hakim bi Amrillah, the sixth Fatimid caliph who died in 1021
AD. They believe in reincarnation and that there are a fixed number
of souls in existence. Druze gather for prayer meetings on Thursday
evenings in inconspicuous halls; outsiders are not permitted to
attend and the rites remain highly secretive. The largest Christian
group is the Maronite sect, followed by the Greek Orthodox, the
Greek Catholic, the Syrian Catholic, the Chaldean, the Protestant
and the Orthodox churches.
Arabic and French are the official
language of Lebanon although Arabic is by far the most widely
spoken and English is becoming common in business circles. Arabs
place great importance on civility and it's rare to see any interaction
between people that doesn't begin with profuse greetings, enquiries
into the other's health and myriad niceties. As an ajnabi (foreigner),
you're not expected to know all the ins and outs, but if you make
the effort to come up with the right expression at the appropriate
moment, you'll be respected for it. In fact, any effort to communicate
with the locals in their own language will be well rewarded. No
matter how far off the mark your pronunciation or grammar might
be, you'll often get the smiling response 'Ah, you speak Arabic
very well!'
Lebanese cuisine is an inexpensive
delight. Using fresh and flavoursome ingredients and refined spicing,
the Lebanese have taken the best aspects of Turkish and Arabic
cooking and given them a French spin. A typical meal consists
of a few mezze dishes, such as spinach pies, dips, dried cheese,
pizza and stuffed vine leaves. This is followed by a main dish
of meat (usually mutton) or fish, often stuffed with rice and
nuts, plus a salad such as tabouleh or fattoush. The national
dish is kibbeh, a finely minced paste of lamb and bulgur wheat,
sometimes served raw, but more often fried or baked into a pie.
Meals are rounded off with syrupy baklava pastries or other semolina
and walnut-based desserts.
Arabic coffee is very popular.
Soft drinks include jellab, a delicious drink made from raisins
and served with pine nuts, and ayran, a yoghurt drink. Alcohol
is cheap and widely available; the most popular manifestation
is arak, which is mixed with water and ice.
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Culture 