Since I know that you are all going to wake up to the images of the attack on the Danish Consulate in Beirut on CNN this morning, it's time to discuss these events and what is going on in the region. This is the first time that I have felt safer as an American than as a European. My accent lets people know where I'm from. I can't say that Danish citizens are so lucky right now. The extremists of the world have grabbed onto the idea of a protest of a cartoon and as usual, taken it to the extreme end in a way that makes the American Freedom Fry issue look childish and amateur. This is the same reaction by poor, powerless, and desparate people that led to the recent riots in France.

Yesterday the Danish embassy in Damascus, Syria, was set on fire by protestors, taking the two other embassies down with it. The French embassies are threatened as well. Yesterday I heard a rally going on in my neighborhood and it must have been a go get them type rally.

My hotel is in the district of Jnah which is outside the city limits of Beirut. It is mainly an Arab neighborhood and as such, nothing is happening here. As I took the pictures of the ocean in the morning, it was a total contrast to what happened four hours later in the city. The Danish consulate was attacked in one of the Christian districts. I can't see that area from where I am as it is fairly far from my location. The embassies here are heavily guarded according to risk. I guess the Danish Consulate will soon be upping their security.

After the bomb went off, I got a call from work to find out if I wanted to leave. I said no. I am pretty sure that if I wasn't already leaving in a few hours that I would get pulled out of the country. It is too bad because I am safe and these types of attacks are isolated. I love Lebanon and I feel at home in Beirut. I feel safe here in the same way that I am safe in San Diego or Los Angeles but I know not to go into certain neighborhoods by myself and what places to avoid altogether. As I get ready to leave, I can only hope that the political and religious situations calm down. I am ready to return and I haven't even left the country.

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