Rules how to handle Lebanese guys - on becoming a stuck up Beiruti...
,,You can be SO arrogant. That's fucking cool'', a German journalist told me yesterday. I'll take this as a great compliment, since it means I'm really integrating here in Beirut. :P Most girls in Beirut actually have attitude as a survival skill.
Every girl you'll see walking around in Beirut will appear to be very stuck up. But it's not that they're really arrogant... It's more like a facade. If you DON'T act like you're the princess, you won't be able to get anything done or go anywhere. Or worse, you could be sending out the wrong message to a guy.
I've always joked that guys are dogs :P, but here they really can be like that. Staring, whistling, moving to a 'good spot' so a guy can CHECK YOU OUT is pretty common. Some desperate actions (which can all happen on the same day): A delivery guy turning 180 degrees when he notices you, just so he can stop and stare before you cross the street. A car following you on the street while the driver goes like 'psst psst'.. A car packed with guys passing you while they all turn their heads to take a better look. And of course you'll have the idiots who'll come up to you and say 'you're beautiful' out of the blue. Like that's gonna get you to talk to him.
Well, as a girl you get used to it. I'm not going to cover myself a loooot because it's too hot for that and I don't want to NOT fix myself/wear clothes I like just to avoid guys. So I kinda stopped caring. You just need to know some basic rules so guys won't keep bothering you.
What to do when a guy you don't like is talking to you:
1) Look extremely bored. Raise an eyebow, look sceptical, yawn a bit... just get good at using the facial expressions saying: 'you're an idiot'.
2) Pretend to be busy. Read something, you need to cross this ultra busy street right now, you're meeting your boyfriend, whatever. But don't say you're married. They will think you're looking to have fun with someone else since he's not with you and you're happily talking to another guy right now.
3) Ignore. 'What's your name' and 'where are you from' might seem innocent questions but before you know it, you won't get rid of the guy.
4) Strut around as if you own the place. Do not make eye contact.
5) NEVER, never ever smile!
I don't mean to sound arrogant :D but I'm usually really nice. I'll always answer the most annoying idiot politely, but not here. Here I act arrogant just like the Lebanese girls. So when two idiots from Cyprus came to talk to the (female) German journalist and me, I stuck to the rules I learnt by now. Even when people don't have ulterior motives. It's not about being arrogant,.. it's just the way you deal with people! :P
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(By the way, the voting for the by-elections was yesterday. I'd heard talkin' about it and saw a bunch of honking cars pass with Future Movement flags. Besides that I haven't paid too much attention to it. Too busy going to the beach etc.. yes I'm ashamed of myself. Anyways, check Lebanon Update for blog posts about political news)
6 comments:
Sooooo annoying these guys. But they think they can always try...It looks like they never feel ashamed!
hmpf.
haha.. nice.
lol yep that is definatly lebanon.. just put in mind that lebanese guys want sumthing to do as to just let time fly.. when they say sumthing sumtimes they dont actually mean it but sumtimes they do u just never know.. alls im going to say is NEVER trust a guy in lebanon unless he goes straight to ur parents first otherwise he wouldnt be serius with ur relationship.. and yes i am lebanese =]
As a guy from european descent living in lebanon, I can tell you its hell here for guys like me.
When i go to any other country, I can struck up a conversation with a gorgeous girl from some exotic country, and shed be smiling and relaxed and it can move on pretty quick...
In lebanon, if I act the same way, well if Im luck (and if shes ugly enough) ill get a 1/2 hour conversation, but seldom a number (like can we meet again? Yeah sure I come here often).
Worst case scenario I get what are you doing here?
Seriously, I think you should also mention the issue from a guys perspective, trying to get to meet girl and mostly getting the disdainful treatment and the same look youd get if you had looked at her and made a monkey face (seriously, make a monkey face or say hi! whats your name?... same result!)... is pretty damaging to self confidence. You end up thinking that there must be something wrong with you if youre the only one who cant get anyone...
Well it appears to be a combination of lebanese girls only talking to acquaintances, considering financial status, following conservative traditions, and also a partly overinflated ego.
Its no wonder that people who dont have the above advantages (and who are stuck in this country) will end up resigning to whisteling and doing other stupid things. They have just given up on getting decent feedback so they figured they might as well have a blast acting like morons.
How sad. After spending some time in other countries among girls from multiple nationalities, i realised that you can get a relationship going in a matter of days... so i figured it must be something with lebanese girls after all, maybe not me.
Its a pity for the lebanese guys, but its not all bad for me, thanks to skills learned the hard way in lebanon, I can walk up to any non-lebanese girl on the street and strike a conversation without any trace of fear whatsoever.
lol it does get annoying when the guys are like that. but you must admit that it can get pretty entertaining. when im in lebanon or jordan or palestine, if im in a bad mood, i freak out when guys are whistling and acting obnoxious. but sometimes its fun hehe. hey, what girl doesnt like attention from cute guys?!
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