Addresses (or lack of)

One thing I quickly learnt when I got to Beirut is the fact that addresses don't exist. Even if a particular home of business has an offical address, pretty much no one knows it. The names of some major streets are known, but other than that street names aren't really known. Many buildings (like mine) don't have a name either. You navigate this country using landmarks and general directions.

My friends and family find it interesting and hard to imagine. I remember a friend asking me about three times, "how can there be no proper addresses?". She was quite perplexed. 

Before I arrived, I received instructions from my work telling me how to get to the office by taxi:- The X Office, behind A Supermarket and opposite the B Embassy.

My friend's address is:- Near the corner of St Georges Hospital, Blom Bank and Tomate Cerise.

I stayed at an Air BnB studio for a few weeks. The address, as described to me by the host, was something like this:- About 300m up the road from the Hotel Dieu Hospital, on the right there is a business called Saleh Lighting. The studio is on the road behind Saleh Lighting. No building/unit/street name. 

My current building has a name and a number, but nobody knows it. There is no name/number on the exterior. My unit isn't numbered either - there are two on my floor, so I tell people mine is the one on the left. There doesn't seem to be a street name either. 

Now all this is delighfully vague and makes things a little bit tricky for the newcomer, especially if you have no idea how to give directions to where you are. As a non-local, I often have no idea if what I think is a landmark is really a landmark. I wouldn't have a clue how to tell a taxi how to get to my apartment unless I'm in the car directing the driver (I can see Uber and its ability to pinpoint your location on the map becoming very handy). Thankfully, the Lebanese are generally quite willing to assist. I've had waiters call cabs for me, and cab drivers stop by the roadside all the time and yell out to local shopkeepers for directions. When I have food delivered (nearly everyone delivers here), I walk out to the main street and wait outside a pub until it arrives. Not as convenient as having it delivered to my doorstep, but a walk never did anyone any harm. I catch a taxi to work from the main street as well.