24. Completing my B.A. in Beirut

I returned from Germany ready for my Junior and Senior years at the American University of Beirut. We lived within walking distance of the university and the twenty-minute walk was full of interest as I made my way towards the Mediterranean Ocean via Hamra Street, down Rue Jeanne D’Arc and finally across Bliss St through the university arches. Occasionally on the way home I would pop in to greet Lucien Accad at his watch shop, or meet friends at their student residents.

I can’t remember exactly when, but at one point I bought a Vespa scooter which made transport easier. I even went up to Shemlan with Graham on it on occasion, before he went to the UK for his studies. The bike was old and I didn’t like the bike rattling. At one point I took the bike apart, painted it and began putting it back together. All went well except that I had a few leftover parts and according to Graham, ‘sadly my lovely and beautiful Vespa never rode again.’ I gave it to a friend, Christian Sa’ade, who was willing and able to fix it.

The mission had completed a new three-story building on the property where the Blind School, the Bible Institute and the mission office were in Awal Zarif. So our family had moved from directly above the Blind School (Scott’s Flat) to a new apartment on the third floor in the same property. I had a separate room off the stairwell on the same floor. It was designed as a store room, but it suited me and my assortment of pets nicely. In time, I had hamsters and a parakeet. My mother was horrified when she discovered that I kept the hamsters in my drawer, especially as they ate holes in my socks. Many unique stories could be told about the offspring of the hamsters who were gifted to friends with frowning parents. Joan remembers the elaborate tunnel layout that I made for the hamsters, as well as a conversation about them and the fact that they had eaten ‘about 50 Lebanese Liras worth of clothes’. I wonder if the conversation was with my mom as I tended not to worry about things like that.

Another advantage of having a separate room was that I could easily slip out and go off to late night movies if I didn’t want my parents to know. On reflection, I realise I had a lot of freedom to come and go as I pleased. One night, I took Joan down to the AUB beach for a midnight swim. She was 9 years my junior, but it seemed a safe place in those days. She recalls the walk there and back with the smells that only Beirut could produce and the sounds of cars hooting, people playing backgammon and the chatter of people on their balconies trying to find some relief from the heat.  

My studies at A.U.B. were absorbing and I found I was totally engaged in all the subjects.The emphasis in the psychology department at that time was on the study and scientific evaluation of human behaviour rather than psychoanalysis. Educational psychology, psychological evaluation and the psychology of perception and learning were fascinating courses, the last two taught by Irving F. Tucker. Professor John Dalrymple-Alford was an encouragement to me as he taught a course on Experimental Method. Henry Clay Lindgren was a visiting professor of psychology who taught Social Psychology in very applicable and helpful ways. I can still remember some of the practical lessons he involved us in, so we could actually observe the effects of social pressure we put on someone. Modern and contemporary culture covered both semesters in my Junior year.

I made it a habit to go over my work each day and keep up with the reviewing of my notes and the assignments we were given. By the time exams came along, I did not have to study much as I already knew the subject and, much to Brenda’s disgust, I would go out and watch a movie instead of burning the midnight oil for my exam the next day.

Brenda was also studying at A.U.B. but she was doing a different course, but our paths would often cross on the campus. One one occasion she saw me in the corridor and asked me for some money. Much to her embarrassment, I evidently pulled out my wallet with a flourish and said loudly, 'You want money, here I’ve got lots!’, as I scattered some notes around. I can’t imagine what possessed me to do that, I was probably showing off and we were both left picking up the lira that littered the floor. I don’t think she asked me for money again. John Sagherian was also a student by this time at A.U.B. in the Maths Department and we became very close friends. 

Over the holiday breaks, if nothing had been arranged, I went up to Shemlan and camped there in one or other room of the large complex, usually in what used to be my dad’s study. Brenda and I occasionally went with some others to hike or picnic in the mountains. Other times I would make arrangements with friends like John Sagherian, John Krikorian, Levon Gemushian or Johnny Haddad to go to the Cedars of Lebanon, to Feraya or to the area of the Barouk Cedars near Ain Zhalta. We would travel by bus, camp or have a picnic and enjoy the magnificence and beauty of the mountains and rivers of Lebanon. That natural splendour is still to me, the epitome of beauty, talked about even in Bible times. It grieves me to think of what is happening to Lebanon as I write. 

My Junior year was completed and I made plans to go for the summer to Hanover-Linden in northern Germany, this time to work on the factory floor of Westinghaus. 

Meanwhile,  the news from Howard was not so cheerful. He had not found it easy being away from the family and Mom and Dad decided that it would be best if Mom and Joan went to Cape Town in December 1969, where Howard would join them. They stayed in the home of Zan Reynolds (a mission-minded lady who lived in Kenya and allowed her house to be used by missionaries when she was not there) at ‘Little Timbers’ in Newlands. (Interestingly enough, unknown to me, my future wife and her family stayed in that same home in 1968 when their family were on furlough from Kenya - but that is another story altogether). Howard and Joan attended Westerford High School and Mom got a job with a friend, Phoebe Coates, to cover some of the costs of living in Cape Town.  

My Senior year was one of consolidation in the psychology sphere. I added a couple of Fine Arts subjects such as pottery and ceramics and design and crafts to my curriculum. Little did I know the doors those pottery classes would open in my future.. I also chose an Introduction to Anthropology course, which I found absolutely fascinating and became very helpful to me in my future life in cross-cultural ministry. I wished I had done that course earlier so I could have continued anthropological studies. I also did a course in New Testament studies on the Gospel of Luke.

I think it was that year that I began writing to a family friend, Jeannie, who was studying in the USA. I had known her from my younger days, and I can’t remember how we began writing to each other, but it wasn’t long before I found myself proposing to her by letter and she accepted. Looking back, my grandchildren could safely say, “What were you thinking?” Until my graduation, this relationship was almost completely conducted by letter and we only really knew each other by what we chose to share in our letters.

Dad, Brenda and I remained in Beirut in 1970 until our graduations in June. I had repeated my Sophomore year, so we graduated at the same time. I am sure Brenda, an excellent cook, did the cooking but I can’t remember how we organised things at home. With Graham in England, and Mom, Howard and Joan in Cape Town, our family was scattered. I had learned to live without them for so long and had the general attitude that I would enjoy them when they were there, and when they weren’t my life carried on. I suspect my letters were few and far between.

In March of 1970, my Dad woke me very early one morning. He had terrible heart pains and had phoned Dr Peter Manooghian who told him to get to the hospital immediately. I had to carry him down the three flights of stairs on my back and drove him across Beirut (thankfully quiet at that time in the morning). I did not have a drivers’ licence and drove there rather nervously under his instruction, took him into the CMC hospital where the Doctor told him to keep absolutely still. He later said he had had a heart-attack. I left the car at the hospital for someone else to pick up and went home by Service (public taxi). Strangely, I wasn’t particularly anxious about whether he would live or not, which was probably a case of ‘ignorance is bliss’. He got treatment and soon came home and embarked on a programme of healthy eating and exercise to help him in his recovery. He meanwhile planned to join Mom in Cape Town once Brenda and I graduated in June. When he did eventually see a doctor in Cape Town, the doctor said there was evidence of an old lesion, which apparently indicated healing had occurred.

Throughout my university years, I was involved with Youth For Christ (YFC), mainly through my friendship with John Sagherian. Sometimes I went to stay overnight at their family’s flats and we would have excellent conversations about different issues. We held each other accountable about aspects of our walks of faith and encouraged each other in the journey. Times with John were always fun. One day we were walking to our respective classes and he handed me his books. “Here, hold these, I need to tell you something,” he said as he gesticulated freely to illustrate a point. That was the Lebanese way - hands add meaning, feeling and emphasise a point in a way that mere words cannot. Howard also remembers joining us on our jaunts and found it a treat. He was sure these times helped him develop his off-beat sense of humour.

YFC had a strong emphasis in outreach events and this usually involved a choir performing. Both Brenda and I loved singing and we were part of the choir. I even gave my first sermon at a YFC event. I think I spent a lot of time on giving a humorous illustration of ‘holding on’ and there was a good response to that at least. It was a learning experience for me, if not necessarily for everyone else.

Another group I was part of became known as ‘Al Muntalikun’. We had a uniform and learned karate as well as how to handle pain and embarrassment as Christian young men. It was rather dramatic and I am not sure how much of it actually applied to our lives, but they were a great group of guys to hang out with. We often had camps in the mountains and before Howard had left for South Africa, he joined me on one of these camps. He remembers the fun of throwing flour bombs and running all over the countryside. 

Through my studies and my previous summer experience in industry in Hanover, I became more interested in using my training in the area of personnel work, so I planned to return to Hanover after graduation. Dad was heading to Cape Town and Brenda skipped the graduation ceremony on a camping trip with friends through Turkey, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Germany, Austria, Lichtenstein, Belgium, France and then by ferry to England, where I eventually met up with her and Graham in Tockington, near Bristol.

Around my graduation, Jeannie visited her family in Lebanon, allowing us our first in-person meeting since our engagement, where I happily presented her with an opal ring. I joined her in England shortly after to visit family and friends, before she continued her studies in the USA. Given our financial constraints and her impending studies, we parted on what I believed were temporary terms, with me heading to Germany for summer work. It was a shock, therefore, to receive a letter from her in Hanover breaking off our engagement.