Today is St. George’s Day! St. George was a Roman soldier who lived approximately from 275-303 AD. He was killed as a Christian martyr, and after his death he became a patron saint for many countries.

Examples of countries that celebrate St. George’s day are Lebanon, Hungary, Spain, and England. In each country, the celebrations usually include street fairs, music, and food. In places like Valencia and Catalonia the day even hosts street performances and parades.

Red roses are traditionally associated with St. George in every country. Other than the rose, however, colours used on St. George’s day are usually appropriate to each nation’s flag. In England, for example, St. George’s Day has high nationalistic value. Currently, the day is not a public holiday but a large petition online  is advocating it to become one. 

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Countries across all continents are celebrating independence days
this month. Wishing all countries a wonderful celebration this November!

Algeria – November 1, Panama – November 3, Dominica – November 3, Soviet Union – November 7, Cambodia – November 9, Angola – November 11,  Saudi Arabia – November 12, Comoros – November 12, Monaco – November 19, Lebanon – November 22, Suriname – November 25, Albania – November 28, Mauritania – November 28, Southern Yemen – November 29, Barbados – November 30

As someone who has spent many interesting and happy moments in
Beirut, I was delighted to be signposted to a website showing the world’s largest collection of postcards and photos of the Old Levant region depicting a century in the life of the region – The Foad Debbas Collection.   It’s surprising to contrast the life then and now and reflect that most of the photos were taken less than 100 years ago. The photo here was taken in 1929.