Tag Archives | aub

AUB Sets a Guinness World Record By Creating The Largest Mosaic Flag

By Rami on May 12, 2018 in Culture, Events, Guinness

A group of students at the American University of Beirut set a Guinness world record in a project called “Share the Flag” by creating the largest notebook mosaic flag made of 60,000 notebook that were placed in the green field.

The event took place few days ago on May 9th and it took them around 24 hours to make it possible. Moreover, as a tribute to the Lebanese Army, the son of martyr Colonel Danny Harb (Rayan Harb), completed the Lebanese flag by placing the last red notebook.

The best part about the whole thing though was donating all of the notebooks that were used to create the Lebanese flag to a large number of public schools in Lebanon. It may sound insignificant to some but needful families will definitely appreciate any contribution to their kids education no matter how small it is.

Check out this time-lapse video showing how they did it.

Best Free Places to Bring Your Kids in Beirut

By Rami on March 20, 2016 in Lebanon

My little kid Malek is turning 3 in a couple of months, and ever since he learned how to walk we started adjusting our plans every weekend to make sure the places we’re going to are suitable for him to play around and have fun. But soon after we began searching and trying few places, we’ve came to realize that Beirut is quite unfriendly for kids simply due to the lack of open and green spaces.

There are very few public gardens around the city, and the well known ones like Sanayeh garden get super crowded on weekends that a kid can barely take a turn on the toys, which eventually makes you opt for some private playgrounds instead. So here are five outdoor places that I’ve found to be pretty suitable for toddlers and can be enjoyed during Spring before it gets too humid.

1. Horsh Tabet Public Garden

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Among the public gardens in Beirut this one is my favorite because it doesn’t get as much crowded as others. It has a small playground at the lower level and open green spaces for kids to enjoy running around, not to mention that you can easily find a parking spot outside it.

2. Ramlet El Bayda

I never go swim in Ramlet El Bayda and I wouldn’t recommend it. But a few weeks ago I decided to take advantage of the beach being empty and took Malek for a walk there. I first thought we were going to spend no longer than 30 minutes before he gets tired but ended up staying more than 2 hours since he totally enjoyed playing in the sand. If you’re up to it then I recommend you do it while the weather is still relatively cool before it gets crowded with swimmers.

3. Baadba Forest

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Ok this isn’t technically in Beirut but it only takes 10 minutes from Achrafieh to reach there. It is a private property owned by the Antonin Monastery in Baabda but accessible for public. You can go there for a small hike with your little ones and some kids bring their balls to play football in an area that serves as a small field.

photo via Hisham Nasr

4. Horsh Beirut

Horsh Beirut is unfortunately closed on weekdays and only opens for families on Saturdays only. Needless to say it’s pretty cool there and feels very liberating for the little kids due to its large area. If it only was open during the rest of the week though!

Photo via Beirut Report

5. American University of Beirut

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I know The American University of Beirut isn’t a public place, but accessing it is free as long as you know someone who can admit you to it. And in a city where everybody knows everybody it shouldn’t be a hard task for you! A friend of ours got us in a while ago and Malek enjoyed it so much there. We first got into the green oval where he played for a little while before moving to the lower part on Ain El Mrayseh side where there’s a very nice and well maintained kids playground. And best of all it’s very secure, it really felt like an escape from Beirut.

Photo via AUB

No matter which place you choose to go, I highly recommend you go there early in the day as you might sometime have the whole place for you! We usually head to our destination around 10 which gives us enough time to enjoy almost any place before it gets too crowded.

Let me know if there’s any other place worth adding to the list!

AUB Chosen Among the Most Beautiful Universities in the World

By Rami on January 7, 2016 in Lebanon

american university of beirut

“The Most Beautiful Universities in the World” is a recently released book by photographer Guillaume de Laubier and French literature specialist Jean Serroy. The book features the most beautiful institutions from around the world and the American University of Beirut was unsurprisingly among the 23 chosen ones.

University of Bologna was ranked first in the book and the list included the Sorbonne in France, Cambridge University in England, Yale University in the United States, Qatar University and several other architecturally significant universities.

The American University of Beirut was established in 1866 which makes it one of the oldest academic institutions in Lebanon and is definitely one of Beirut’s landmarks. With more than 60 buildings and several libraries spread over an area of 250,000m2, the campus is well known for its extensive green space and for offering the neighbors in Bliss street and the surrounding areas an unimpeded view to the sea thanks to its low rise construction.

Red Bull Can You Make It?

By Rami on March 28, 2014 in Lebanon

“Can You Make It?” is a challenge by Red Bull for students to travel across Europe with nothing but 24 Red Bull cans as currency.

Throughout their journey, the competing teams will have to trade their cans for every thing they might need like food, place to sleep, etc…

The challenge starts on April 4th with more than 100 teams from all around the world, and Lebanon is the only participating country from the region with a team of three girls from AUB, Lara Talih, Mona Talih, and Shaden Fakih.

For more about the adventure and how you can follow it make sure to check the official website here.

Olayan School of Business is the 23rd most beautiful business school in the world

By Rami on November 19, 2013 in Lebanon

This must be some cool news to the students at Olayan School of Business as it has been ranked as the number 23 most beautiful business school in the world by Top Management Degrees website.

In 2009 the American University of Beirut received a stunning new building for its Suliman S. Olayan School of Business, courtesy of Massachusetts architectural firm Machado and Silvetti Associates. The pre-cast masonry used for its façade is intended to mirror the local limestone found in buildings across the rest of the campus, and the openings in the exterior echo the wooden latticework of the region’s mashrabiya windows. These apertures are smaller on the lower floors to provide shade but are bigger higher up the building. This design allows staff members to get beautiful glimpses of the Mediterranean from their offices.

You can check the full list here, the most beautiful school was Tom and Vi Zapara School of Business at La Sierra University in California. Moreover, some photos of OSB are available here.

New cinema opening soon in Bliss street

By Rami on May 19, 2013 in Lebanon

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Looks like Hamra is soon getting a new cinema, “Prime on Bliss”, facing AUB in Bliss street. The website and Facebook page have no further details such as the numbers of screens that will be available, except that they’re opening this month.

Instabeat – The must have gadget for professional swimmers

By Rami on April 24, 2013 in Lebanon

I just came across this cool project called “Instabeat” by professional swimmer Hind Hobeika.

Hind is a former swimmer who used to train with the American University of Beirut’s swimming team and recognized the need for a monitoring device to track hear rate during her practices. So she came up with Instabeat, a device that is designed to fit any pair of swimming goggles to tracks a swimmer’s heart rate, caloric burn, and number of laps.

During practice, swimmers will be alerted through LED lights as to whether they are performing in fat burning (blue), mid-range (green), or maximum (red) zones. Progress over time can also be visualized after connecting the device to your personal dashboard through a USB port. Future prototypes will allow syncing data to your mobile phone using Bluetooth.

You can read more about Hind Hobeika and her Instabeat device on Intabeat.me. And if you feel like supporting her, you can take part in her indiegogo campaign to raise $35,000 needed for further development of Instabeat.

Thank you @sam_lb