“The Life of Jord” vlogged the revolution in Lebanon through 3 consecutive videos.
First is his normal tour of Beirut that took a turn when the protests progressed, then there’s his journey to the Syrian borders, and finally coming back to Lebanon from Syria to get a clear look into the Lebanese revolution. And he did!
English YouTuber Jordan Simons has a particular lifestyle. It consists of continuously traveling and vlogging, showing cities around the world, and giving his personal perspectives to his fans.
This vlogger has traveled to over 65 countries so far, with the aim to reach 100 countries in the upcoming year of 2020. Lebanon was on his list.
Doing the math, Jordan started vlogging his sightseeing of Beirut on Thursday, October the 17th (we all know this date too well).
He intended on a somewhat longer visit but unfortunately had to leave early due to the blocking of the roads.
The first video is split into two very different moods and experiences. It started as a normal tourism video.
Jordan walked from his Airbnb accommodation in Hamra to Downtown Beirut, where he saw the inside of the Al-Amin mosque and then went to Beirut souk.
His day then ended with a walk along the manara. Oh, he also had a 12$ meal that consisted of tea and Hummus at the Grand Cafe (the poor guy!).
Jordan had a lot of positive thoughts about Beirut. He loved it and described it as very posh. Here comes the second part: The next day, he was sitting in a coffee shop that had to close due to the protests.
He walked through blocked streets full of protesters and military forces. He then attended the protest in downtown, which he noticed to be quite peaceful and contradicts what the news and media projected.
The vlogger realized that it was just bad timing and said that he liked and enjoyed Beirut regardless of the current situation, and highly recommended his fans to visit it.
On Saturday morning, he went off to spend a week in Syria and returned to Beirut at the invitation of a Lebanese friend who asked him to come and see up close the reality of the protests.
His Lebanese friend helped him get a real taste of authentic Lebanese food at the restaurant ‘Em Nazih’ in Hamra and a real taste of the revolution in downtown Beirut.
There, he expressed his wonder in the following: “Street food, people partying, laughing and having fun, this is the way to do a protest.”
Jordan’s friends showed him the way people recycle trash left behind by some protesters.
Before leaving for the airport the same night, he attended an awesome Lebanese party held by protesters in ‘The Egg’ building that has been abandoned since the civil war.
Upon leaving, Jordan assured he’ll definitely be back in Lebanon now that he has seen the country for what it really is: With or without a revolution, it is just a place where people want to live peacefully and happy.
Most importantly for us during these times is that he has conveyed to his hundreds of thousands of fans around the world the real image of Lebanon Revolution, and not as the international mainstream has been depicting it as violent and horrible.
Hopefully, by the time he gets back, our work will be done and Lebanon will be even better than before.
Watch his vlog with some insights on the protests that made him realize that “This is how a revolution should be done.”
