Mohamad Orabi
Lebanon
Sidon known locally as Sayda or Saida, is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate, of which it is the capital, on the Mediterranean coast. Tyre to the south and the Lebanese capital Beirut to the north are both about 40 kilometers away.
I was raised and born in Saida where I spent almost 25 years studying and living beside my beloved family. My home is almost 7 mins away from the coast by car and it needs me 17 mins to reach our island in the heart of the Mediterranean sea.
Sidon sea castle (left) and Saida beach Sunset (right).
Beirut which is called also eastern Switzerland is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coast. The nightlife in Beirut is fascinating and a lot of tourists come from all over the world to enjoy their vacations with us. I spent a beautiful time there and I made a lot of friendships.
Downtown Beirut (Left) and Beirut waterfront - Zaitunay Bay (Right).
Scouts
The Official Ceremony of assigning me as Scout Leader.
As a scout leader in the Lebanese Scout Association, I served my people in Lebanon with passion and love for almost 3 years. During that period, I was assigned as a scout logistics leader and later as a boys leader (Green Unit). My duties as logistics leader was to settle data mining and quantitative analysis using various tools and methods. I helped all my colleagues (scout leaders) in preparing and financing camps and activities for their units' members. Later as a boys leader, I prepared young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law. Throughout 3 years of scouting, I leveraged my leadership skills and strengthened my communication and time management skills. I decided to quit scouts in 2020 because of the pandemic and that was after I trained an ambitious leader to take over after me. It was one of my best experiences ever!
The visit of Shukran Mortaja, a Syrian actor to our Scouts group.
Traveling
Seattle, Washington, USA (October 2023)
My research project got acccepted for an oral presentation at the BMES Annual Conference 2023 held in Seattle, Washington. During the conference, I had the pleasure to meet lot of distinguished students and researchers from all over the states and overseas.
A group picture with the BMES Chapter in our campus (Left) and me presenting my research project during the oral presentation (right).
Pictures with Kai Duan (my lab mate) in a restaurant (Left), me in Tower of the Americas (Middle), and our research group (Right). People in the right picture (from left to right): Maytham Ismail, Zeinab Al Akra, Kai Duan, Me, Josiah Rhome.
San Antonio, Texas, USA (October 2022)
I had the pleasure to be part of the BMES Annual Conference 2022 which was held in San Antonio, Texas. I took the advantage of being in the city for 5 days and I visited all the historical places, Riverwalk, and the shopping centers and malls.
Istanbul, Turkey (Summer 2022)
I traveled in Summer of 2022 to Istanbul, Turkey with my mom and my brother. I tested Turkish cuisine for the second time after my first travel in 2016. Istanbul is a historic place for both Christians and Muslims where people from all over the world come to enjoy the old city that reflects the cultural influences of many empires that once ruled here. In the Sultanahmet district, the open-air, Roman-era Hippodrome was for centuries the site of chariot races, and Egyptian obelisks also remain. The iconic Byzantine Hagia Sophia features a soaring 6th-century dome and rare Christian mosaics. The golden horn is a great place to visit where the ottoman castles surround the waterway from all sides to protect the city from attacks during the 15th and 16th centuries.
Taksim Square, Istanbul, Turkey (Left) and Me in a Cruise tour in the golden horn - Bosphorous (Right).
Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA (December 2021)
I traveled to Massachusetts in the Christmas vacation in 2021. I visited most of the places in both, Boston and Cambridge. Boston public library was the best place to visit as it reminded me of the library in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in Harry Potter. After my visit, I can tell that I fell in love with BOSTON!
Pictures are as follow: Harvard business school (Up left), Harvard University (Down left), Boston Public Library (Middle), and MIT (Right).
Hiking
Chouwan Lake (Summer 2022)
I hiked in most of the natural reserve places in Lebanon. Recently, in the Summer of 2022, I hiked in Jabal Moussa Biosphere Reserve where I walked, jumped, and climbed for 24 km before I reach a freezing lake called Chouwan lake.
Chouwan lake from the left side of the mountain (Left), middle (Middle), and right side (Right).
Harissa (Summer 2021)
It was erected in 1907 on top of a hill, 650 meters above sea level, in the village of Harissa, 20 km north of Beirut in honor of Our Lady of Lebanon. Harissa is home to an important Lebanese pilgrimage site, Our Lady of Lebanon. It attracts both pilgrims and tourists who want to enjoy views of the bay of Jounieh.
Our Lady of Lebanon, Harissa. Pictures are from same spot but in different times.