Stained Glass - Metropolitan Cathedral of Rio de Janeiro

Part 2 of my trip brings me to Beirut to visit friends and go out. As what has become my usual greeting in Lebanon, a bomb went off at a military outpost downtown and one person was killed. Without fail, everytime I come here there is something going on. Since I arrived after dark I couldn't get a sense of the damage from the war but what is noticible now are the military stops on the main roads in town. Once the bomb went off, the roadblocks increased from one police car to three. I would have to describe the mood as manic depressive here. People are fighting back by going out and defying the destruction of the war. At the same time, the bomb puts them right back on edge. It's 11:00 pm now and soon the streets will be empty. No one wants to risk being out late when there is a fresh reminder that internal trouble still exists. I'm safe, in the odd way that one is safe in a city anywhere. My hotel is away from Central Beirut and secure. Still, I didn't want to keep my friends out when their drive home was going to be a long one. The bridges are still down and people have to take the dirt bypass that is built in place of a bridge.