Visiting Surgeon in the Middle East: Part 11

I had the afternoon to myself. Rather than sleeping, I decided to wander around Kuwait City and check it out. The beachfront along the Persian Gulf was gorgeous. I had expected it to be full of freighters and tankers, but none were in sight. Rather, there were mostly jet skis catching air and doing tricks over their wakes in the Gulf. Am I really right next to Iran? The city is bustling, with any empty space the host of a large, multimillion-dollar construction project. I explored the area and found a lovely park along the water. I followed it and was accompanied by every facet of Kuwaiti society, rich and poor, native and immigrant. No matter where people come from, a beautiful coast will always serve as enticement to get people outside.

We then went to the airport en route to Beirut. Our flight was uneventful, except the time the pilot asked the passengers to put on their seatbelts as we were going over “unstable air.” I looked at the GPS and saw we just entered Iraqi airspace. I am still not sure if the pilot meant that as a matter of fact or a political joke.

We landed at Rafiq Hariri International airport. I was first struck by the beauty of it being right on the Mediterranean, but was later entranced at the incredible efficiency of that airport. At Raleigh-Durham, I expect to wait at least 20 minutes for my bag. In Beirut, Lebanon my bag beat me to the luggage carousel. My only quick stop was at customs, where a young woman in a Lebanese military uniform spent a long, uneasy 5 minutes (felt a lot longer) pouring over every page of my passport. No one else on my flight from Kuwait City got that treatment and, frankly, I was feeling a little discriminated against. Is this because Lebanese people have such a hard time getting visas to the US? I asked Wissam, a Lebanese citizen, and was told she was making sure I did not have an Israeli stamp in my passport. If one was found, he told me, I would be refused access into Lebanon. Though this same restriction is on the books in most Arab countries, it is most strictly enforced in Lebanon I was told. An American with an Israeli stamp landing in Riyadh or Kuwait would likely be harassed and “interrogated,” but it is only in Lebanon that one would be unequivocally denied access.