And I think I've got it bad

(A good friend of mine sent me this email today. I've been a little concerned for her and have sent a few emails since I heard what was going on.)

Here is her reply email

Dear Everyone

Thank you all for your concern, your emails and phone calls. Things are really not going well here in Lebanon right now as you know, but i luckily got here from Prague right in time, a few hours before the Beirut international aeroport was bombed the first time on the morning of the 13th. Since then, things have gotten much worse - naval blockades have been set up, main highways out of Lebanon have been bombed, a power plant has been hit and even mock bombings have been taking place. The aeroport, which has been hit several more times since yesterday morning, is down for what was meant to be forty-eight hours but which in fact is probably going to be longer. All flights have been diverted to Larnaca, Cyprus. The Hezbullah headquarters has been bombed as well as a number of towns in the South, and a couple in the North. Nasrallah's residence was also raided but it seems he has escaped. We were up half the night last night listening to and watching bombs being dropped.

Downton Beirut is completely shut down, but the rest of Beirut seems to be up and about. My family and I live in the mountains right outside of Beirut, to the East, so even though we can hear and see the bombings and gunshots, we are safe.

The US has vetoed UN demands for Israel to withdraw and so the international community has been slow in it's respone to this international crisis. I personally cannot believe how long it is taking for action to be taken. Right now the number of Lebanese killed is 60, wounded more. I am not sure if that is an accurate number, but that was what it was when I last checked.

As i have already said to some of you, there is not much we can do right now except be hopeful. Even pragmatic. If we feel that it truly isn't safe to stay then we will do what we can to leave the country - that would be quite difficult though. Our contingency plan would be to get to Syria and then make our way to Jordan and finally either Egypt or Cyprus. We haven't reached that point of desperation though, because despite the worries, we are continuing our everyday lives. I am just so relieved that I got here before all this started happening. Thankfully my whole family is together.

I will keep you updated on anything else that happens. Again, thank you all for your concern and phone calls and emails etc. It truly means a lot to me. I have internet access every second, so rest assured that I wil let you know what is going on.

With all my love,

Talar